Fighting the Inevitable
by mg56
Summary: The truth will win out. This is not always a good thing. Another sequel, the last one in this part. FINISHED.
1. Guilt

Hia, welcome to the new story and the final one in this part of the saga. There is no Summary page this time because if you haven't read the previous stories you will get lost in seconds, so I strongly advise that you read them, especially 'Can you Keep a Secret' and 'Parallel Lives' first.

For those of you who have, just a few notes before I start. Firstly, I forgot to credit my brother mg34 for the ending of the last story; it was his idea, I just wrote it.

This one is all my own work (more or less). I hope you enjoy it.

**1. Guilt**

_Blossom, help me! Blossom! BLOSSOM!_

Blossom awoke in a cold sweat. She was in bed, and the screams had died away. Those awful screams that echoed through her dreams as a chaotic mixture of Brick's and Sonic's voices both begging her for help, help that she'd never provided. Just thinking about it made her feel sick.

"You alright?" asked Eddy. Blossom jumped.

"You're awake?"

"Yeah, you've been screaming for the last half hour, I would have woken you, but I thought you might be sleep walking or something."

Blossom sighed, and sat up. "I'm fine," she lied, "I just need a glass of water."

"Yeah right," said Eddy with a hint of sarcasm. He switched the bed side light on. "I'm not going to sleep until you've told me what's wrong, or until I've guessed."

"Do we have to do this," Blossom replied, "I have a long day ahead of me, I need sleep."

"So do I, but some things are more important. Are you ill?"

"No."

"Having an affair?"

"Of course not!"

"Strangled by the guilt of letting Sonic get taken to his impending death?"

"N…" Blossom stopped and slumped. Eddy did a silent jig before responding.

"I would have put it more tactfully, but it is two in the morning."

"He's not dead yet," Blossom said, "probably." She thumped the pillow. "DAM IT!" she wailed, "why couldn't I do anything? Why was I rooted to the spot in fear? I was never a coward when I was young!"

"As adults we think we have more to lose though bravery," Eddy comforted. "If it was easy to be brave it wouldn't be impressive."

"That's not the point. I've help thousands of people in my life, often at a risk to my own safety. Almost all of them total strangers. Why can't I risk my self for people I know and care for?"

Eddy put a hand on his wife's shoulder. "I'm sorry Blossom," he said, "but I'm afraid I don't know. What ever the reason, you got scared and did the wrong thing…"

"Tell me something I don't know."

"BUT," he continued, "what's done is done. Let go."

Blossom looked up. "What?" she said.

"Listen, when I was young, I spent all of my time trying to cheat people out of money."

"That's really a good start for a lecture on morality Eddy."

"True, but you can learn two very important lessons from this. Firstly, how do you think I can live with my self now, after doing that?"

"I don't get it."

"You know, the three years I spent in jail for fraud, the endless lying and cheating, even the small things like when I forgot MJ's birthday. How do I live with my self, now I understand how awful it is?"

"You understand right and wrong?" Blossom laughed. Eddy looked a bit peeved, so Blossom answered the question. "You're incapable of feeling guilt?" she suggested.

Eddy laughed sarcastically. "No, but most normal people have a way of dealing with their guilt. They don't just bottle it up inside like you do, and hope it will go away."

"I don't!"

"Oh really? Brick forgave you for what you did to him, right?"

"Yes, he did."

"Then why do you hear his screams as well as Sonic's?" Blossom jumped.

"How do you know that?" she asked. Eddy smiled.

"You talk in your sleep. It's quite revelling." He raised an eyebrow. Blossom blushed slightly.

"Okay mister psychologist, why do I still hear Brick screaming?"

"Because you've never forgiven yourself for what happened to him," Eddy replied. "You've always asked other people for forgiveness for what you've done, and it's always been forth coming, but you've never forgiven yourself for anything. It's not healthy."

"Oh, I get it; I just pretend that I'm not responsible for two people's deaths and soon a third!" she said bitterly. "That's a great idea!"

"I know you're not happy about this, but you don't need to keep biting my head off," Eddy said, slightly hurt. "But if you keep on blaming yourself for ever you'll go mad… and I don't want you to do anything stupid," he finished gently, putting his hand on hers. "You don't have to forget what you did, just accept that what's done is done, and you can't change it. You regret it, that's enough. It's time to get on with life."

"I don't know if I'm capable of that," Blossom said sadly. Eddy smiled.

"You're capable of anything," he said, "just remember that." He gave her a hug. Finally Blossom smiled.

"Okay, thanks," she said, although she didn't feel greatly better. Yet.

"No problem. Love you. Goodnight."

"Hang on Eddy, you said there were too things I could learn from your exploits."

"Oh yes," Eddy smiled. He leaned in closely and smiled, before abruptly saying:

"Don't make the same mistake THREE times."

And before Blossom could respond he turned off the light.

Okay, sorry it's short (the first chapter normally is.) This story will start slowly, but it should pick up, as they normally do. Please review and feel free to ask questions/make suggestions. Thanks.


	2. Losing your Mind

I forgot to mention this at the start of the story; I do not own any of the characters in this story, except Edward and MJ. But feel free to use them.

**

* * *

2. LosingYourMind **

Having woken up twice more during the night, Blossom was tried when she arrived at work. As she walked to her desk, most of the heroes she passed saluted her, or at least looked respectful. The joy's of leadership, she thought to her self. Everything seemed different now.

Well, almost everything. For a start, she was still using the same desk. And secondly, the mountains of paperwork hadn't disappeared yet. She was just sitting down to do it, when Buttercup walked in.

"Hi, Blossom," she said cheerfully, "I have a report from this morning's shift." Blossom had been about to reprimand Buttercup for not knocking before entering, when she realised what her sister had just said.

"You've written a report?"

"Don't sound so surprised!" Buttercup said huffily. Blossom turned round and pulled a file out of a cabinet. She blew the dust off it.

"According to this, the last time you filed a report was ten years ago."

"Alright," Buttercup admitted, "maybe I'm turning over a new leaf."

Blossom took the report from she and skim read it. "Or you just want to gloat," she said.

"Hey, I think that five separate incidents in four hours is something worth recording."

"All foiled individually," Blossom looked up. "Where was Bubbles during all this? She's supposed to be working with you."

"Yeah, but we decided to split the patrol route between us so we could cover it in more detail."

Blossom looked disapprovingly at her. "You patrol in pairs for a reason. If something happened to one of you, how are you supposed to get help?"

"We have radios."

"Any self respecting super villain always takes out the radio first," Blossom said tautly, "I would lecture you further, but I have too much paper work to do." She filed the report.

"Say, have you chosen a new second in-command yet," asked Buttercup. Blossom clicked for a moment.

"You asked that awfully keenly for someone who turned it down."

"Yeah, but I don't want to be stuck doing paperwork all my life. I just wanted to know who would."

"Bubbles turned it down too, so I don't know who I'm going to appoint." She chuckled to her self. "I'm disappointed in you and Bubbles, I would have thought at least one of you would have leapt at the chance to boss the other around!"

"Talking about bossing," Buttercup leaned across the desk, "why haven't you moved into Sonic's office yet? It's been a month."

Blossom shifted slightly. "I can't stand the smell," she replied. Buttercup nodded in an "I don't believe you" sort of way, before leaving Blossom to work. But instead of getting on the Pink Puff drifted off into her own thoughts.

She'd told Buttercup the truth. The Smell of Sonic's sneakers that lingered in the office was the reason she hadn't moved in yet. It reminded her of those old meetings, in which the blue hedgehog would belittle her and not listen to anything she said. Those had been horrible times, and through it all he'd been silently blackmailing her, with the threat of revelling that she'd killed Superman.

Or had he. Maybe not, he'd never actually said it. And it was Sonic who'd given her this chance anyway, by inventing the lie. For someone on the run himself, he'd taken a huge personal risk. On top of that, he'd been different when she'd been hiding him in the basement. He'd been… no, nice wasn't the word… civil, entertaining even. They'd got on quite well. And he hadn't appealed to anyone else for help, just to her.

Did they understand each other? Blossom was fairly sure she understood Sonic, but this didn't please her, for she didn't understand her self. What was she doing? Was this life any good at all? Would it have been better if Sonic hadn't covered for her? Probably for him it would have been, but Blossom didn't know about herself. When she wasn't thinking about the guilt, it seemed good. It was only on reflection that it was bad.

Maybe she should distract herself more. An opportunity arose when Boomer through leaned through the entrance to her cubical.

"Err… there's a fight taking place out here," he said nervously. Blossom sighed, and flew up to look over the top of the cubical. Sure enough, it looked like Wolverine and Cyclops were having a fairly violent "disagreement." A ring of spectators had gathered to watch. Blossom quietly wondered out of her office and approached the battled ground. She stopped just behind the spectators, and just stood there for a moment, making sure that no one had noticed her, before bellowing at the top of her voice;

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?"

It had the desired affect. The spectators nearly hit the ceiling in surprise, while the two brawling heroes actually stopped. Blossom moved in.

"You two are pathetic," she said, shaking her head.

"HE…"

"I don't care. I shouldn't have to be here to make sure that two of our members can settle a dispute without trying to kill each other!" She turned to everyone in the room. "We are the best in the world at saving the world. The reason we're the best is because no else tries. Don't let that be the only reason."

And with that she headed back to her office.

A tall, green skinned figure was leaning on the wall just outside. "That was good," he said. "The authority of Sonic and the passion for the job of Superman. You'll make a good leader."

"Thanks Piccalo," Blossom said. The Nammak (another alien, thought Blossom, most of the SSR members seemed to be aliens,) nodded ad walked slowly away. Blossom went calmly into her office and sat down. Then it hit her. She'd been responsible for the death of both the previous leaders of the SSR! She'd murdered her way to the top! Sure, Sonic probably wasn't dead yet, but it wouldn't be too long, and she'd actually physically killed Superman. She looked at her hands. They were covered with blood, running down her arms. She tried to wipe it off, but it wouldn't come off.

"Am I going mad?" she whispered fearfully. The blood looked just like it had when she'd killed Superman. The memories of her punches came back, along with Brick's screams…

Blossom smacked her head against the desk. She looked at her hands. They were still bloody. So she hit it again and again and…

"Am I interrupting something?" said an emotionless voice. Blossom looked up. Raven was standing in the door way. Blossom thought for a moment. She settled for a Sonic style response.

"What do you want?" she asked tetchily.

* * *

Okay, thanks for reading. Please review. The chapters will get longer, I promise. 


	3. Last Day

I said the chapters would get longer, and this one is the longest yet! It should also kick start the story a bit. I hope.

**

* * *

3. Last Day**

"Eddy, are you alright?" Eddy looked up from behind his desk.

"Yes, I'm fine Double D," he said tiredly, "why do you ask this time?"

"It's just you seem distracted. You didn't turn the sign round from closed to open this morning, you were talking about a car to a customer for three minutes after he'd left, and you took a wheelbarrow in part exchange!"

Eddy looked around. "I think this office needs repainting," he said. Double D rolled his eyes.

"Come on Eddy, it's not like you to hide your problems. What's wrong, trouble at home?"

"Why do you always ask that first," asked Eddy, as he always did. Double D decided not to beat around the bush.

"Because it usually is."

"Oh. Well if you MUST know, Blossom seems really down at the moment, and I can't seem to find anyway to help. She doesn't seem to want to talk to me about it."

"Ah." Double D scratched his chin, "well, it is like her to hide her problems. Do you actually know there is a problem?"

"Yes, she…" Eddy hesitated. Double D didn't know about Superman or much about Sonic for that matter. "I know it, but it's personal," he finished. Double D nodded.

"Is it something most people suffer at some point, you know, like finding a grey hair, or a first wrinkle?"

Eddy thought for a moment. Most people suffer guilt, but it wasn't really anything to do with ageing. "Yes and no," he replied.

"Maybe it's possible then that she is having a bad reaction to this… problem due to the extra stress of her new job."

"You think so?"

"Yes I do. Blossom's to strong a person to let petty things get to her."

"Umm," Eddy chose his words carefully, "the issues hardly "petty" but it does seem to be affecting her more than I thought it would. I suppose stress could be a problem. It's defiantly worth a pop, what can I do to help?"

"Lots of little things really. Try and remove any extra stresses from her life, so she can sort her self out. You know, get the kids new shoes, make sure the house is tidy, repaint the room you'd promised to do last year and do the shopping etc."

"Eddy looked doubtful. "Do you really think that will help?" he asked.

"Sure, if you do all those little things, it means that she'll have time to relax away from work, and when she has time with the children, it can be quality time, rather then just more work. Once she's not under so much pressure, I'm sure she'll be able to sort out her problems."

Eddy nodded slowly. "That sort of makes sense," he said.

"It's called being a supportive husband. Sometimes people don't need to talk, they just need to make space for them to think in."

Eddy stood up. "Right!" he said determinedly, "It's three o'clock now, by the time Blossom gets home, the house is going to be tidy, dinner will be cooked and her loving family will be waiting, to give her all the space she needs!"

Close enough thought Double D as Eddy strode out. Moments later, he leaned back in briefly.

"Oh yes, put that wheelbarrow on the forecourt for five hundred dollars," he said before shooting off.

* * *

It was late now. Bubbles wondered down one of the many corridors in the SSR headquarters. It wasn't the quickest way out, but it did mean she went past a certain point.

For in this particular corridor there was a room with a safe in it. Inside the safe was a box. And inside that was the Chaos Emerald that she and Buttercup had locked there a month ago.

She walked past here everyday, waiting. What she was waiting for she wasn't sure, but she had a feeling that when it was time for her to take it, she would know. Buttercup had been very suspicious of her shortly after Sonic had left, watching her every move to make sure that she couldn't get the emerald. This had angered Bubbles quietly, she had as just as much of a right as anyone else to it! But more importantly, it had stopped her from taking it.

Over time though, Buttercup's surveillance had slacked. Patience was a virtue, thought Bubbles. Now it could be hers!

As she approached the door how ever, something told her it wasn't the right time. She wasn't sure quite what, but it didn't feel right. A voice was speaking in her head, saying, _"not just yet Bubbles, not just yet"_

She sighed, but walked past. Having waited this long, she could wait a few more days.

* * *

Thousands of millions of miles away, there was a ship, drifting through space. It was a huge, gleaming silver testament to a once great civilisation, but its inhabitants were now all that was left.

Their mighty nation had been undone when the planet they resided on had exploded. Before then, they had been a leading light in intergalactic politics, with a booming economy, content citizens and a powerful army. Now they were just a bunch of roaming nomads, looked down on by all, even the species so pathetic that they had only just developed fire.

Or that was how the Kryptonian propaganda machine put it. In reality they weren't looked down upon at all, although they were the subject of a lot of smug documentaries produced by the universe's new top dog, which showed the meteoric rise and even more meteoric fall of Krypton. In many respects, this was worse then being looked down on.

However the few remaining Kryptonites were a proud people, and they were determined to keep things as normal as possible by, for example, prosecuting the murderers of their dispersed race.

The messenger hurried towards the throne room. The message had to be given to the King, and it had to be passed on by word of mouth, to avoid anyone that might be tapping the internal telephone from overhearing. He ran into the waiting room.

"I bare an urgent message for the King from the Department of Interrogation," he declared. The receptionist looked up from her poorly lit desk. Despite the glamorous appearance from the outside, inside the ship was dull and dingy, mainly because of the shortage of power on board. The impression wasn't helped by all the kryptonites wearing black.

"Thank you sir," she said professionally, "I'll just see if his majesty has a moment…"

"My father is tired," interrupted a stern and authoritative voice, "I will take the message." The newcomer was obviously different from the rest. He walked tall, with a straight back, and wore white clothes with a cape. Despite the state of the ship, he was immaculately presented. He was royalty.

The messenger stumbled into a bow, as did the receptionist. "Yes your majesty," he said without questioning. "The Department of Interrogation have discovered the identity and location of Lord Kar-EL's murderer."

The Prince smiled. "Good," he said. "Which planet is the scumbag on?"

"Tosvse 3 sir. The locals know it as the ea…"

"Set a course at once," the prince barked to his captain.

"Only his majesty the king can order a change in course sir..." the captain stuttered in fear. The prince was remarkably restrained for someone who had never been questioned.

"My farther will agree with my orders when I inform him of them," he said confidently. "We need to capture this murder, so we can punish him!"

The messenger shifted uncomfortably. "What?" the prince asked him.

"Err… it's just you perhaps should have rephrased that last sentence to 'so we can punish her'…"

* * *

Blossom arrived back home and landed at the front door. She was tired, her head was sore and she still felt guilty. But she tired to focus on the positives; Raven had promised not to say anything, there were no journalists waiting for interviews so nothing had gone disastrously wrong and she thought she'd finally got through to people to knock before they entered her office. So life wasn't that bad. Honest.

She opened the door and walked.

"Hi Eddy, I'm home," she said. Eddy appeared from the kitchen.

"Hi dear, how was your day?" he asked, slightly nervously.

"Long," Blossom replied. "I'm finished, can you… why do you have safety goggles on?" Eddy blinked for a moment, then reached up and felt the goggles on his face. A giggle came from behind him. Eddy paused for a moment.

"I'm just trying them for size?" he suggested.

"Yes… of course…" Blossom was slightly concerned. Eddy smiled weakly.

"Cup of tea?" he suggested. Blossom nodded, and followed him in to the kitchen. As soon as she had got through the doorway, something dropped onto her back.

"Surprise!" giggled/dribbled MJ. Blossom smiled, and took her off her back.

"Hello you!" she said cheerfully and gave her a hug. "Just remember, don't to that to daddy or his back will break."

"Daddy's not very strong, is he?" MJ asked. Blossom nodded. MJ sniggered away, showing those two long front teeth. "But he's good at something's, like tickling and using the buzzy thing!"

"Buzzy thing?" Blossom looked a round. The kitchen looked different somehow… "It's spotless," she murmured. Eddy smiled.

"We gave it a good clean, didn't we MJ?" his daughter nodded vigorously. Blossom was amazed.

"How did you get all the stains out?" she asked; hours of scrubbing had made her think it was impossible.

"Some of them can out with acid," Eddy explained (MJ bowed), "but I got some of the others out using the power sander…"

"The buzzy thing!" MJ elaborated.

"…then the surfaces weren't level so I had to sand the whole lot down."

"It's an…" Blossom felt the kitchen sides, "amazing finish," she murmured, slightly in awe.

"Thank MJ for that," Eddy explained, "she knew right when to stop. Oh yes, and dinner will be served shortly. It's home cooked!"

Blossom went slightly pale. Eddy's idea of home cooking was to drench anything in layer after layer of fat. It worked with breakfast and possibly omelettes, but not with anything else. "You cooked?" she asked, hoping that he'd just put a ready meal in the oven.

"No, I was too busy emptying the dinning room of rubbish, so Edward did it."

"Edward?" Blossom was amazed. "He can cook?"

"Yes it was news to me too," Eddy admitted, "but it's amazing what these mutant kids will pick up."

"I HEARD THAT," Edward's voice squeaked from a different room, (it hadn't broken yet.)

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have to mock you if you hadn't spent the last half hour laying the table with a ruler!"

Edward emerged from the dinning room and strode into the kitchen. "If a jobs worth doing then it's worth doing properly… and you can stop laughing and all!" he said to MJ, who'd been giggling ever since her dad had referred to Edward as a mutant.

Blossom was too touched by their work to be bothered by their squabbling. "You didn't need to do all this," she said. MJ looked at her wide eyed.

"But we love you Mummy," she said earnestly. I almost reduced Blossom to tears. Instead she scooped MJ up into a hug.

"Thank you," she said to them all, "this is great! Thanks…" she paused. "What is for super?"

"Tripe," said Edward bluntly. He managed to keep his face straight for a few moments too.

* * *

Not everyone was at home with their families enjoying dinner though. There were many hard working people still out and about, making the world go round. The superheroes that were on night watch for example, or the police, firemen, doctors, bus drivers, restaurant waiters, the poor university student who has to sell burgers for McDonalds all night, and respectful newspaper editor, waiting for the big story that will make his of her front page for the following day special.

The tabloid press are also hard at it, but no one quiet knows why, since they tend to make up the news. But at least they provide a service. As long as they don't pretend to be something they're not, you can't hate the tabloids.

Well, not while you've got tabloids that pretend to be real newspapers to hate first.

Avoiding mentioning any real daily publications that come in the mail and fit into this category, there's always the Daily Bugle. J Jonah Jameson was the editor of this "worthy" publication, and enjoyed ranting about the "wrongs" of the world almost as much as I do.

But toady, he was not happy. The current front page story was lacking something. A decent photo for a start. Jameson didn't believe in slow news days. He believed that if there wasn't any news, it was a journalist's job to make some. To see that the most interesting story anyone had come up with was "Chelsea odds on for English Premiership" was probably the lowest day in his career.

Someone knocked of the door of his office and came in. "You better have a story!" Jameson barked.

"Sir, I've found something on the police radio," the reporter said. Jameson snorted.

"If it's not a car chase involving Spiderman I don't want to know!"

"But sir, it's a transmission from an alien spacecraft!"

"Not another one," Jameson moaned, "I know all about those; "This is HMS corkscrew pasting on vector 6.1.5, requesting permission to change to vector 6.1.6" etc. I can't put that on the front page!"

"But sir, it's not that, it's the story of the year! Listen!"

Finally Jameson did. What he heard amazed him. "Well, well, well," he murmured. "Everyone has a secret." He pressed the intercom button. "We have a new page one!" he said.

* * *

It was seven in the morning. Eddy rolled away from Blossom and got up. He turned back to look at her. She was sleeping so peacefully, with her long hair flowing across the bed. Eddy sighed. She truly was beautiful, both inside and out.

And Double D had been right; she'd seemed a lot more relaxed that night. She'd even thanked him for his help. Sure, they hadn't had sex, she was too stressed, (in a way Eddy was grateful, since he was still finding sawdust from the sanding in unfortunate places), but they'd still had a very close night. Eddy felt good. He was also tired.

He wondered downstairs, and opened the fridge. "Now what's the fuel of a devoted husband… Bacon and Eggs!" he said. Having collected them and put the kettle on, he grabbed a glass of water, and decided to turn on the television to see what the news was… and because he had a lottery ticket.

The commercial break was just finishing, and the news reader returned to the screen.

"_Good morning. To once again reiterate our top story, it is alleged by the Daily Bugle that the SSR leader Blossom Panner was the actual Murder of Superman. The Man of Steel died fifteen years ago, and was originally thought to have been murdered by the career criminal Brick Jojo. We now go live to our reporter in…_

The sound offour lives falling apart is the sound of a glass breaking.

* * *

Please Review. Thanks. 


	4. Blown Apart

Sorry, we're back to the short chapters again, but this part of the story is pretty hard to write, because there so many different angle to cover, and I want to do it carefully in a sensible order. Okay, let's go.

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4. Blown Apart**

Blossom was still sleep, and for the first time in weeks, there were no bad dreams. It was so… peaceful. What wasn't so peaceful was her being shaken awake.

"BLOSSOMTHEYKNOWTHEYKNOW!" Eddy screamed as she shook her. Blossom opened her eyes and sat up.

"Know what?" she asked tiredly.

"THEYKNOWYOUKILLEDSUPERMAN!"

It took a moment for blossom to interpret what had just been sent. When she did, it had the effect of pouring ice cold water down her back. She turned alertly to Eddy.

"Who knows?" she quivered.

"Everyone! It's on the news!" Eddy's voice was full of panic. Blossom stared at him, and then at the bed. The lie that she'd built her entire life upon had just been swept away from under her feet. She looked at Eddy again, and even in this most stressful of situations, she could tell she wasn't the only one. Eddy had built his life there too, and so had the kids. They hadn't even known.

Blossom stood up. "I'm going to get dress," she said. Eddy blinked for a moment.

"Why?"

"I don't know," she admitted, as she pulled out the pink dress with the black strip. It suddenly occurred to her that she should have changed that uniform rule while she'd had the chance. Everything was happening so quickly.

The phone burst into life. Eddy grabbed and threw it straight to Blossom. She took a deep breath.

"Hel…"

"IS IT TRUE?" squeaked Bubbles. Blossom paused. She could have pleaded ignorance or she could have denied it. But there was little point lying anymore.

"Yes, it is," she said as calmly as possible. This was the moment she'd dreaded for years, the moment her sisters found out she was a murderer. In her mind Blossom had considered the many possible reactions over the years. She didn't have to wait long to find out which one was correct. There was a brief pause, and then the line went dead.

Blossom handed the phone back to Eddy. He watched as she sat down slowly on the bed. In his mind all sorts of thoughts were racing through.

What was he going to do with out her? How was he going to survive? What was going to happen to the kids? Were they going to have to spend the rest of their lives endlessly perused by the press, demanding a quote from them about Blossom? How terrible was it going to be?

But something somehow pushed its way to the front. He had to be there for Blossom, even if it was his last act as her husband. Then at least she'd have good memories of him as she got reacquainted with Brick.

So shoving his natural selfishness, (we all have it) and the raging jealousy aside, he slid closer to her, and tentatively asked; "You alright?" He knew the answer, but it was a conversation starter.

Blossom just looked at the floor for a moment, and then turned to him. "I'm okay," she said calmly. "In a way it's a relief to finally find out what they would think. What the world thinks." She looked at her feet, and chuckled ironically. Eddy gave her a hug. A few tears began to dribble down her checks. Eddy tried to stifle his.

"We don't have long now," he said quietly, "I think we should tell the kids." Miserably, his wife nodded.

* * *

In the SSR building, everyone had congregated in the meeting room. No one had told them too, but it seemed a good place to have a huge argument.

"I'm telling you, its rubbish!" Buttercup shouted angrily. "Blossom would never kill!" Bubbles, standing beside her, said nothing.

"I don't see why not," said Flash bluntly and angrily, "she had the time. She was there, she was the only witness, other than Sonic, and he didn't turn out to be that reliable!"

Buttercup was about to explode. "SHE WOULDN'T! WHAT WOULD SHE HAVE TO GAIN?"

"When has that ever got in the way of a criminal," spat the former justice leaguer, but a different one tapped him on the shoulder.

"Buttercup has a point," said Batman solemnly, "what is Blossom's motive? What could she possibly gain from killing Superman and Brick?"

"The leadership!" snapped Flash, but once again he was shouted down.

"That rubbish and you know it," said the Green Lantern authoritatively, "Sonic got the leadership after Superman; if that was Blossom's motive she would have bumped him off to!"

"See!" said Buttercup aggressively, "it's an evil scheme by some crime lord or something! I know it?"

"She could have had a motive!" Flash was not to be beaten. "Maybe she was err…"

"Maybe they just fought for the fun of it? A good old fashioned fight to the death!"

"Yes! Wait, no! Shut up Vegeta!"

"Only trying to help…"

"ANYWAY," over rode Batman, "I think Buttercup is right. This is some plot to break up the SSR by exploiting our divisions! We must all stand together at this most trying time."

There was a roar of agreement, but Flash was far from convinced. "I still don't agree, "he said. "Maybe Blossom thought that Superman would ruin her or threaten Brick and killed him to keep him quite?"

"How does that explain Bricks death?" Silence.

"Superman could have killed Brick? That would provide a motive," suggested Best Boy, more as a matter of fact then a serious suggestion, but before he could be shouted down, someone opened their mouth without thinking.

"How do you know that?" Boomer said before he could stop himself. "She didn't tell you too…oh shit!"

Silence rocketed through the room. The superheroes were stunned. The only sound which broke it was the sound of Bubbles slowly walking over to Boomer.

"You knew?" she hissed. Boomer shuddered. He glanced at Butch, who was shaking his head.

"No?" the blue ruff tried. It didn't help. Bubbles whacked him across the head and stormed out. No one else moved. Eventually, someone said what everyone else was thinking:

"Blossom, Sonic and Superman were all murderers? We really do know how to pick them!"

But no one knew quite who.

* * *

Okay please review. Oh yes, I need your help. It you notice that over theses next few chapters I miss someone obvious who would have a valid opinion, please tell me. Thanks. 


	5. Getting it Over With

Sorry for the delay again, I'm going to try and make the updates more regular.

**

* * *

5. Getting it Over With**

Blossom ignored the stares as she landed just outside the police station. Only a few hours ago she'd been saying goodbye to her children for what she desperately hoped wasn't the last time. Then she'd gone for a breath of fresh air, just to clear her head, and to taste freedom for possibly the last time.

She walked inside and calmly up to the desk. The sergeant sitting there did a double take.

"Err, hello?" he said nervously. Blossom supposed she'd have to get used to people being nervous around her now. She smiled as harmlessly as she could.

"Hi, I believe you want to question me about a murder?"

The sergeant stood up, stumbling slightly. "Err, well… yes Mrs Panner, we do… is that a problem?"

Blossom sighed. "No it isn't. I'm coming quietly." The sergeant nodded quickly.

"Okay err if you just sit over there we'll get someone over to escort you a holding cell for a moment." Blossom nodded and took a seat. It was better this way; she didn't want to subject her children to the site of her being dragged off in chains. She really hoped they'd be okay without her.

* * *

In the SSR's science department, things were progressing very quickly. It's a lot easier to find evidence when you have an idea of what you're looking for. Gohan took on last look at the remains of Superman's cloak, and then put it back in isolation. He knew what he had to do. He had to inform the head of department that the evidence pointed towards one conclusion; that the newspaper allegations were true.

But that meant informing someone that their daughter was a murderer. John Utonium had been running all the SSR's scientific research since Sonic had taken over and normally be was enthusiastic and cheerful. Today his shoulders were slumped and he was yet to raise even a small smile. More concerning from Gohan's point of view, he hadn't left his office yet.

Still, Gohan was experienced at giving people bad news. This didn't mean he enjoyed the experience, but it was something that had to be done. Tentatively, he knocked on the door.

"Sir?" he said. There was a pause.

"Come in," came a depressed reply. Gohan half entered. The Professor looked up. "Well?" he said hopefully.

Gohan hesitated. "I'm errr, sorry," he said, "but the evidence it well… err… sort of…" Okay, so being experienced didn't mean he was good at it either.

The Professor had completed the sentence himself though. He thudded his head against the desk. "Oh Blossom," he said quietly, "why didn't you tell us?"

Gohan stood in the doorway for a while, feeling stupid. Eventually he came to a decision. "I'll go inform the others," he said, "would you like me to send the Buttercup and Bubbles down?" The Professor nodded so Gohan left quickly. Then he just realised that he'd volunteered to tell a lot of very strong people that the man they all look up to and their boss were murderers. Just another day, he thought.

* * *

Eddy wondered around the house downstairs. It seemed quieter and lonelier already.

That was stupid though, he thought. The house was often empty and silent, and the kids were around; well they were in their rooms. Eddy didn't want MJ going to school today, and Edward was still waiting to start high school, after his indefinite suspension from Elementary. The house was still alive.

"But it's like the souls been sucked out of it," he muttered. Maybe turning on the television would help distract him, as long as he avoided the news channels, all of which had their own "exclusive reports" on the situation. There were some news trucks out side, but Eddy had ignored them for now.

The door bell rang. Eddy assumed it was a journalist, so ignored it. The giveaway was that it was only rung once, (most – but not all – journalists are exceedingly rude people who will do almost anything for a story, so ringing a doorbell multiple times is standard procedure.) Cautiously he approached the door.

"Hello?" he said though the letter box, "who is it?"

"It is Matt Murdock Mr. Panner, I was wondering if I could have a word."

"WHY? So you can splash my kids over the front pages as children of the devil?"

"No, because I'm a lawyer."

Eddy paused, and then opened the door quickly, to drag the man in. He managed to avoid the photographs, but not the potentially embarrassing headline, as Murdock stumbled inside.

"Okay," said Eddy, "can I take your coat, sunglasses, stick and dog for you..." something in his head clicked. Oh shit he thought. Murdock laughed.

"Mr Panner, I'm blind."

"Ah yes so you are," she Eddy hurriedly, he was keen to move past the 'Husband of killer attacks blind man on doorstep' headline that was running through his head. "So, are you here to call me to court or what?"

"No, I'm a friend of Mrs Panner," he paused, "as in I once had my life saved by her."

"Glad someone remembers," Eddy said slightly bitterly.

"Also, I have a friend in the SSR who speaks very highly of her."

"Who?"

"Daredevil."

"You mean the man how can sense everything? You two must make a right pair…" Eddy finally managed to put the brakes on his tongue. Fortunately, Murdock smiled.

"Quite," he said. "Anyway, I would like to repay her by taking up her case."

"Errm, right." Eddy paused. "Shall I put the kettle on?" Murdock nodded and followed him in to the kitchen, where Eddy continued. "You see, I haven't got a lawyer yet, but I've also never actually been approached by one before who wasn't asking if I had had an accident in the last three years that wasn't my fault. I'd quite like to see some credentials, if you don't mind."

"Certainly," Murdock opened his brief case and held them out. Eddy directed the man into a seat before looking at them.

"Harvard ahey?" he said. "I don't know if I can afford you."

Murdock laughed. "Consider it a favour then," he said. It took Eddy a few minutes to get back off the floor.

* * *

Back on the spaceship the Kryptonite king was tired again. So the Prince had a chance to discuss strategy with his chief civil servant.

"What do you think Hump-RE?" he asked. "How are the reports?"

Hump-RE smiled. "Well sire, the reports say that planet is known to the locals as Earth, and Lord Kar-EL was known as 'Superman' while he was there. We understand he was quiet popular. The air on the planet is breathable, and its population is mostly far weaker than use. Even a child could beat the strongest normal 'human' – as they call themselves. There are a few strong mutants that might prove a small hiccup, but other than that…"

"Great!" the Prince rose to his feet. "We can go a head with our invasion plan then! Make them our salves, and rise Krypton to the fore front of the universe once more, with a new home! On a new planet!"

"But sire!" Hump-RE interrupted nervously, "the intergalactic republic won't stand for that."

"Oh, so you want us to wonder the galaxy for ever do you!" the Prince shouted. Hump-RE smiled calmly.

"No sire, I just think that we need to be slightly more cunning then randomly surging on to a planet and enslaving its population. We need a pretext."

"That's easy," said the prince, "they are defending the killer of one of our citizens!"

"Actually," Hump-RE said, "the prisoner suggest that they will not only try this Blossom they may also execute her."

The Prince was surprised. "That's crazy; they'll surely stand behind their strongest warrior! They can't put her to death!"

"Yes, I know most planets are run by the strongest person, but this planet has some democracies."

"Some?"

"Yes, there are actually some one hundred and ninety two separate states on this planet, all with different governments."

The Prince had heard enough. "That's rubbish!" he shouted. "No planet can function like that!"

"I never said that it functioned," Hump-RE replied, "that's just how it is."

"Are you sure you were using 'persuasive' enough techniques of interrogation?" the Prince asked.

"Yes," replied Hump-RE, "We gave him plenty of volts and a full dose of truth serum. He had smoke rising from his spikes and still he told us that."

"We need to improve our techniques," the Prince scowled, "that Hedgehog is too difficult to crack. How long until we reach this Earth?"

"Four days."

"Then we have that long to come up with a plan to make sure they get behind Blossom. Then we'll be able to explain our actions to the Senate."

"I'll get right too it sire," said Hump-RE.

* * *

Murdock chewed his pen. Eddy waited patiently. "Well?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," said Murdock. "I can defiantly work with what Blossom told you, and I do have a plan. What you must do now is not say anything to anyone. Okay?" He got up. Eddy did too.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I'm going to talk to Blossom, and make sure she says nothing. Then I'm going to find out where the Bugle got their story from. If it came from Sonic the Hedgehog, I can get it thrown out before it even reaches court."

"How?" Eddy asked. Murdock smiled.

"Where in the constitution does it say that a hedgehog can give evidence in a murder trial?" With that he left. Eddy paused for a moment. That was perfect! If Boomer and Butch could keep there mouths shut, and the evidence was ignored (like it was initially) then they could cover it all up! Brilliant!

As long as Blossom's conscious allowed it. This worried him. What if she decided to get it all of her chest and tell them? What if she wanted to be with Brick now?

That thought depressed him, so he suppressed it. "EDWARD, MJ," he called upstairs, "THANKS FOR BEING SO GOOD THIS MORNING, LET'S MAKE SOME LUNCH!"

Presently, Edward arrived downstairs.

"Where's your sister?" asked Eddy.

"She went to school," said Edward bluntly. Eddy jumped.

"WHAT! I TOLD HER NOT TO!"

"You did?"

It then stuck Eddy hard in the face. He hadn't. He'd been worrying so much about Blossom that he only thought he had told his daughter to stay at home!

"Shit!" he screamed, and sprinted out the house and past the crowd of journalists. He needed to get MJ home before someone pushed her too far…

* * *

Okay, thanks for reading. I'm sorry this story is developing so slowly, but it is going somewhere I promise. It will probably be longer than mine normally are too. I'll try and get it going faster next chapter, but for now please review. Thanks. 


	6. Help and Helpless

**6. Help and Helpless**

MJ sat alone at the back of the class. This was normal; no one wanted to sit with a friendless freak. It didn't normally bother MJ too much either; she hated school anyway and everyone in it, so being left alone suited her just fine.

The difference today was that everyb her that murderers are evil people incapable of any human emotions. Did that mean her Mum just pretended to love her? Was that why she'd always lied to them? If Mum had lied so often, was lying wrong?

MJ's thoughts were incoherent and disorganised, but one thing eventually forced its way though; she wanted to go home this evening and be with her Mum.

"I want her to love me…" she whispered to her self.

The bell rang, and the teacher dismissed them for break. MJ hoped that she could find somewhere quiet to sit alone outside, but she had barely got out the class room when the first question was asked.

"So MJ, what's it like to have a murder for a Mum?"

MJ's confidence was none existent, so her mouth immediately dried up. She couldn't speak. The lack of response did nothing to help, as partially the whole class, and other classes were gathering round her. (Some people just wondered quietly off, but no noticed them.) With in moments she was being bombarded with questions, none of which she had any desire to answer. Like MJ, most of the questioners were five to six years old, so they went something like this.

‐D 

"I want her to love me…" she whispered to her self.

The bell rang, and the teacher dismissed them for break. MJ hoped that she could find somewhere quiet to sit alone outside, but she had barely got out the class room when the first question was asked.

"So MJ, what's it like to have a murder for a Mum?"

MJ's confidence was none existent, so her mouth immediately dried up. She couldn't speak. The lack of response did nothing to help, as partially the whole class, and other classes were gathering round her. (Some people just wondered quietly off, but no noticed them.) With in moments she was being bombarded with questions, none of which she had any desire to answer. Like MJ, most of the questioners were five to six years old, so they went something like this.

"Is she going to get killed for it?"

"Are you sad?"

"Were you there when she did it?"

"Did you see a police car?"

"Did they hand cuff her?"

"You should be hung with her!"

"I heard your Mum killed all the superheroes!"

"That's stupid, she only killed superman didn't she?"

"MJ, are you deaf or something?"

And so on…

* * *

The "senior" playground and field was separated from the "Junior" one by a fence. Up against this fence, two boys were playing a game off top trumps. The Brown haired, green eyed one scoped up the cards.

"Alright!" he said delightedly, "Loris Caparoisi!" He put it to the back of his pack, while his Black haired, brown eyed friend smiled to himself quietly.

"Don't get too excited Paul," he said sniggering slightly. "Your turn to call."

"Okay Jamie," said Paul Johnson, "Err… wins five."

Jaime Fereto laughed. "Hand it over," he said, "I've got Valentino Rossi!"

"Next time we play MotoGp Top Trumps, we're taking him out of the pack!" Paul said as he handed his card over. Then his mobile beeped. He pulled it out. "It's from Edward!" he said. Jamie looked up.

"Is he okay?" he asked. They had been a solid group of three friends until three months ago when Edward had gone round the corner to swap lunchboxes with MJ. Both Jamie and Paul wished they'd gone with him now, because the school could hardly have suspended all three of them indefinitely. It was only because Edward was different, they had thought at the time. They still did.

Paul read the message. "It just says; MJ in schl."

_Please forgive that appalling attempt at text langue. I like to annoy my friends be always sending text messages in full English, so I don't know it – mg56._

"That can't be good," Paul finished, but Jamie wasn't listening. He'd spotted something.

"She's just over there," he said pointing to the crowd of kids on the "junior" playing field.

Paul looked. Then he looked at the fence. "It's an automatic detention if we jump the fence," he said. Jaime laughed.

"I think that'll be the lightest part," he said.

* * *

"Do murders eat different food?"

"My Dad says that all Murders eat babies, does your Mum?"

"Is your Dad a murder too?"

"Are you a murder?"

MJ had had enough. At first the questions had just hurt, but now she was angry. Acid was foaming in her mouth, and her mind was picking out the position of every target in range of her fist. Now she cracked.

"YES I AM!" she screamed, and she whirled round, her fist flying towards one of the more persistent and less sensitive questioners. It never made it. Someone grabbed MJ's elbow, and stopped her hand right in front of the kid's face. MJ looked up in furry to she who'd done it, and was surprised to see that it was Jamie Fereto holding it.

"Please don't MJ," her older brother's friend said gently, "you attacking people is not going to help your mum."

"And," Paul added, "You're supposed to punch like THIS!" He smashed the kid they'd just saved in the face.

MJ dived out of the ensuing chaos. She new what was coming. Two eleven year olds were not going to be a match for about fifty six year olds, but Paul and Jamie were holding there own… and they managed it long enough for the tribal instincts that exist in Primary school to take over. Sure enough, half of Edwards year group had jumped over the fence to help his friends, and by the time order had been restored, Eddy had arrived and sneaked his daughter off home.

* * *

Blossom looked at Murdock sadly. "I'm sorry," she said, "I told them everything." Murdock paused and "looked" at her. (He's blind, remember.)

"That's a problem," he said sadly. Then he thought for a moment. "There is only one other way to get you out of this Scot free."

"Really? What?"

"We argue that you are not human," Murdock explained. "Then you can't be prosecuted with murder."

"What!"

"Are you human Blossom," he asked calmly, "because Daredevil has overheard some conversations about you and Chaos energy?"

"You have… I mean he has? Which ones?"

"The ones between Sonic and members of the science department, years ago of course. He always took a lot of interest in you Puffs, even If it didn't seem that way."

Blossom sighed. "I'd rather not talk about Sonic."

"I wouldn't say anything if it wasn't important. If we tell the court that you aren't a human, and are not covered by any of the dangerous animal acts, and back it up with scientific evidence, then they'll have to throw the case out. It would be like charging a cloud with murder."

"But clouds can't think," Blossom protested.

"Prove it."

"Only a lawyer would say that," Blossom paused, "or a philosopher."

"Well it's your choice Blossom," Murdock said calmly, "but I warn you, if this goes to trial, you will almost certainly lose, and put your family through a lot of stress and pain. And your life would be at the mercy of a judge."

"Yes," Blossom said, "but if I get out of in on a technicality, what life will I have after that? Endlessly hounded by the press, just waiting for the day they change the law and charge me? I can't do that!"

"Can you inflict a trial on your kids?"

"There is another way to avoid a trial!" Blossom felt the confidence returning, all of it that she had lost when she'd been looking at those three dead bodies. And as she spoke the next sentence, it all flooded back.

"I'll plead guilty," she finished.

Murdock nodded. "You would have been a great leader of the SSR," he said. "I will fight for a lenient sentence." He stood up. "We could really do with you now. The organisation will collapse without a strong leader."

And with that he left. Blossom sighed. The regained confidence turned out to be a temporary thing. She slumped in her cell, (being a Police holding cell it was a single cell.) Was she really strong enough to plead guiltily? Could she risk it all on the judge showing mercy? Especially with the press tearing her to pieces out side.

The cell door opened. "You have a visitor," the police officer told her, and she led her out.

* * *

Blossom sat down opposite Buttercup. She was nervous, her sister didn't look particularly happy. Then again, she didn't look particularly anything. Her face was totally blank.

"Buttercup?" Blossom as nervously. Her sister looked up.

"Hi Blossom," she said deadpan. "How are you?"

"I'm… okay," Blossom replied. She wasn't comfortable, the conversation felt very forced. "Bubbles not here?" she said, trying to bring the conversation to the point.

"No, she took it badly." Buttercup said. "Had a huge row with Boomer about it. She thinks that since he knew you weren't his brother's murderer, then he doesn't love her as much."

Shit, thought Blossom, the two Ruffs blew it! "How are you and Butch?" she asked.

"We've been through to much for that to cause problems," Buttercup replied.

"Oh good…" Blossom visibly relaxed. Buttercup didn't.

"I said me and Butch had been through too much, not you and me," she said tightly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

A feeling of impending horror spread through Blossom. "I…" she began, "I thought you might reject me."

"I told you about my fertility problem before I told Butch!" Buttercup shouted. "I told you everything. I thought we were close!"

"We are close!" Blossom protested, but Buttercup wasn't to be petered.

"I've never lied to you! I told you what I thought of everything! From your kids to your husband and I never once lied! But it appears that was all a one way street!"

"Buttercup, I…"

The Green Puff stood up, and Blossom saw tears in her eyes, such a rare sight that it stopped her dead. Buttercup had one last thing to say though.

"You could have trusted me? I thought our relationship was strong enough to survive you murdering someone!" She leant back across the table again. "I spent seven years defending you from Butch, for something you hadn't even done! Seven years we were apart because of your lie."

And with that she left Blossom, completely crushed, to be taken back to her cell.

* * *

Evening had come. Back at the Panner house, dinner was being eaten quietly. MJ was sadly pocking at her vegetables (the spider side of her had meant the meat was devoured without a second thought.)

"Dad?" she asked. "Does Mummy love us, even if she is a murderer?"

"Of course she does!" Eddy was flabbergasted.

"But how come she isn't here then?"

"Err… because she's in jail?"

"But she's strong enough to break out! She could be here if she wanted too!"

"Yes, but…"

"WHY ISN'T SHE DADDY?"

Before Eddy got totally lost, Edward swallowed his food and spoke.

"MJ, Mum does love you. I promise. She's sitting in prison right now wishing more than anything else in the world she could be with you, even though if she was they'd only take her away again. But don't despair MJ, because she does love you, and you can find her love around you and inside you if you look for it. Okay?"

MJ nodded. "Thanks," she whispered, before leaving reasonably happily. Eddy turned to Edward.

"Thanks son," he said, "that was a real help."

"Yep," said Edward quietly, "I just wished I believed it." He got up to leave, and had reached the door by the time Eddy clicked.

"What! You're Mum loves you Edward!"

"Yeah, she does. I didn't quiet mean it like that."

"How did you mean it then!" Eddy said angrily. Edward Suddenly whirled round to face him.

"I'll tell you how I mean it! Three months ago, my life was great! My parents were reasonably happy, my Mum and Dad loved each other, I had dreams and ambitions and plenty of time, I had friends and I was at school! Sure, I had some eccentric aunts, but that was all! Now I'm not in school, never see my friends, am a second class citizen that everyone wants to spend the rest of time in stupid clothes making heroic speeches, I've got a huge scar on my chest, and my Mum is a murder! It makes no sense!"

"But that's hardly Blossom's fault!" Eddy said, temporarily forgetting it was his son he was talking to. Edward stopped dead.

"That's the point," he said sadly, "I don't want Blossom, or any Powerpuff. I just want my normal, happy, loving Mum. The Mum from my old life."

* * *

Okay, that was better! Please Review. Next chapter your favourite Ruff is back! 


	7. An Insight into the Male Mind

**7. An Insight into the Male Mind**

Eddy was sat in the lounge, trying to ignore the world. The kids were in bed now, although how much sleep they were getting was in question. The journalists were still crowded out side the front of the house, and the story was still the only thing on television. Eddy had resorted to listening to music and reading a book at the same time, to try and drown out the world, and to give himself some peace. It didn't help though. Not long earlier Murdock had called to tell him that Blossom had told the police everything, and was intending to plead guilty.

"Why?" Eddy had asked.

"Because she doesn't want this to be dragged out over a long legal battle that could put pressure on the children," had been Murdock's explanation. Because SHE wants it over with quickly, had been Eddy's cynical thought.

He was ashamed of him self for even thinking it; Blossom surely wouldn't want to leave her kids. But still it lingered in the back of his mind. What if she did want out? It was a stupid thought, but one he couldn't get rid of.

The doorbell rang. Repeatedly. Eddy was going to ignore it, as it was probably journalists, having one final attempt to get an interview before the deadline. However, eventually the letter box was pushed open, and some one called through;

"For God's sake Eddy, open up!" It was Boomer. Eddy though the door open and thrust the blue Ruff inside, once again slamming it in the faces of the surging reporters.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, "it's gone ten, shouldn't you be with Bubbles?"

Boomer picked himself up. "She threw me out," he said sadly. "We had a row about Blossom, I think she blames me for it, or something like that."

"Did you defend yourself?" Eddy asked. Boomer drew himself up to his full height (which was a good half foot up on Eddy.)

"Of course I did!"

"That's where you get wrong then," Eddy said, walking into the kitchen, "you should let then walk over you when they're angry, let them shout and blame you for everything, and you should unreservedly apologise. Then spend one night on the couch, and by the time morning comes, they'll have realised that they were too harsh/plain wrong, and apologise to you. Once that's done, you can have a rational discussion and sort the problem out. Drink?"

"Triple scotch please."

"Okay. But you see now that you've argued she has something else to be upset about. How would you feel if just after Brick had died your wife had argued with you about it?"

Boomer downed the scotch. "I wasn't married," he said.

"But if you were!"

"Oh, pretty angry, I suppose."

"You see," Eddy said, "that how Bubbles feels. She thinks you were being insensitive, by not letting her get out some of her frustration, and anger or unhappiness over the situation." He downed a scotch himself. "You see, men and women are actually almost exactly the same, if you strip away the layers. The only differences in personalities are environmental. Men can be just as bitchy as women, and women can be just as competitive, or loutish, or what ever."

"Then how come life's so complicated then?"

"Because when they're with each other, women always worry if the man only wants sex, men always worry that the women is going to take away his life, and they both worry that the other one doesn't actually like them."

Boomer thought for a moment. "So basically, I'm buggered," he said.

Eddy paused too. "Not totally, you just need to spent the rest of the day preparing for a lot of grovelling tomorrow. Or you'll just have to wait for it to blow over, in about a week. Why are you here anyway, I would have thought you'd have gone to Butch's?"

"I didn't think things would be to stable there," Boomer said, "I thought I'd give them some space."

"Oh, so the most stable and unstressed household you could think of was here, was it?"

"Err…"

"Oh never mind," Eddy said, "since you're here, can you keep an ear out for the kids for a while."

"Sure, I've got nothing better to do. Where are you going?"

"For a walk," Eddy said, and he left through the back door. If he went through the neighbours' back gardens, he could probably avoid the crowds at the front.

* * *

Upstairs, Edward was in his room. The lights were off and he was in bed, but there was no chance of sleep. His mind was racing.

What right do you have to complain? it said.

"I don't want to be a superhero. I never asked for this."

Do you think any heroes ever asked for it?

"Yes! Lots!"

Always so stubborn aren't we? You never take anything lying down. That's why you get hurt.

"My old life was fine! We played board games on Sundays, had proper food cooked for us, I never had to do it. Mum was around to tuck me in at night… She had time for me. Now she only has… had time for the world."

That's life you fool. The old life was a life of being a nobody. Strong people, true heroes (and villains) don't need other people, other people need them!

"I don't want to be a hero. I want to be a nobody! I want life to be simple; I want to work in a dull office for a faceless multinational company. I want 2.4 children! I want my Mum to be here and for her to love me."

She isn't here. You have to go to her.

"I'm not going there! I'm not going to spend the rest of my life doing something I don't want to do!"

You have no choice. You are a puff/ruff. It is your destiny.

"Screw destiny, I want to do what I want to do! Why's it okay for the girls to do whatever they want, and not for me!"

Because they want to do the right thing. You don't. You are as bad as every super villain that ever lived. You have the power, you MUST use it. Till you do, everyone who dies is your responsibility. If there is an accident you could have stopped, every death that takes place is your fault.

"No it isn't"

Your fault.

"No…"

Your fault.

"NOOOO!"

Edward sat up in cold sweat. He swung round angrily. "IT'S NOT MY FAULT, OR MY RESPONSIBILITY! AND SHE DOES LOVE ME! SHE DOES!"

He sat there in silence for a while just listening to his breathing and trying to justify his actions to himself. There was nothing wrong with not wanting the pressure of being a superhero, was there? It was his life.

But he wasn't sure. Nothing was certain in his life at the moment. Only yesterday, the idea that his mother was a murder would have been unthinkable. Now it was reality. Only a few months earlier, she hadn't even been a superhero. He thought about the ten years of his life before he'd known. Had it all been a lie? Could he trust anything that had been said before? Did she really think it was okay for him to do what he wanted to?

"Oh Mum," he whispered quietly, "I don't know who you are."

* * *

Eddy wondered through the dark streets, kicking his heals. They were empty for now. He tried to clear his head, but he couldn't. It was so depressing. Was she really just going to let her self be taken away from him, without a fight? It made sense; the only reason she had to stay was the kids. He was just and added extra, part of the assemble kit.

He spotted something ahead of him on the pavement. As he approached, he realised it was a person, just lying on the floor. The closer he got, he soon realised that it wasn't a beggar, as he'd initially thought. It was a teenage kid, lying unconscious in a pool of his own vomit. Eddy glanced about, but there was no one else around. So he approached.

The kid wasn't breathing. Eddy desperately thought about what to do next. A thought suddenly struck him; he yanked open the mouth, put his hand inside and pulled the tongue out of the kids throat. He chocked up some more vomit, and started breathing again. Eddy dragged him over to a wall and sat him up against it. Then he called an ambulance.

It had been that quick, and that calm. Slowly, as he talked on the phone to the operator, a feeling of satisfaction spread over him. He'd saved a life, hadn't he? If it wasn't for him, the kid would have died…

"Dam, wasted trip," said a voice. Eddy swung round,

"YOU!" he said. Brick looked up.

"Oh, can all your family see me?" he said, slightly exasperatedly.

"Yes, that's right," said Eddy coldly, advancing towards him. "MY FAMILY! NOT YOUR'S!"

Brick blinked. "You upset about something?" he asked, totally relaxed. Eddy nearly blew a gasket.

"Oh just leave me alone!" he turned away. "You'll soon have it all anyway. Why should I fight it?"

Brick looked at his feet. "Listen Eddy," he began, but Eddy cut him off.

"You know, I hate men like you. You're so cool and comfortable around women, it all comes so easily to you. You sidle slowly along side, showing off your muscles in that subtle yet revealing way, and calmly push off the guy who has been spending three months trying to pluck up the confidence to talk to her. We just look like a pathetic ball of sweat compared to you, and you can back it up with you're smooth tongue, in more ways then one. Then, job done, you dump her the following morning, and move on to the next girl, leaving the previous one even more prickly and unapproachable. You make it impossible for us!"

"Hang on…" Brick began.

"Come on, tell me it isn't true, at least at one stage of your life!"

"I can't."

"Of course not." Eddy slumped to the floor. "I mean, what are we supposed to do? We can't help being ugly and nervous. I… we're just afraid of rejection. For you it hardly matters."

"Oh come on, that's not fair!" Brick had given up trying to get his point across. "I got rejected by Blossom multiple times! Do you think it didn't hurt?"

"How many girls did you reject?"

"Err… how many have you?"

"None. No one ever asked."

"Why is this my fault," Brick asked angrily. "I can't help being good with women! And I can't help it that Blossom loves me more than you! If she hadn't fallen for me, someone else would have got to her ages before you! You should be grateful for what you've got! It's not so great over here you know, I'm dead! I'm never going to have children or anything like that! So I played around a bit when I was younger, and so what if my one night stands made it harder for people like you to get a girlfriend. How does that diminish my right to fall in love? I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Blossom! I wanted to raise children with her, I wanted to marry her! Do you know how painful it is to watch that all happen with someone else? Her wedding? Her first child? I should have been there, not you!"

Eddy sat there in silence, while Brick calmed down. Eventually Eddy spoke.

"I know you should. She really loves you. She always has. All I can do is to show my love for her by letting her show you, and not moaning about it. But I just wish that once in my life, I could look in her eyes, and see that she loved me as much as I love her. But I don't suppose I deserve it. If I really love her, I should let her go."

"That's a bit defeatist isn't it?"

Eddy looked up. "Of course it is, how can I beat you?"

"You know," Brick said angrily, "I used to respect you, because of the way you looked after Blossom, and didn't try to make her forget about me. I would watch her go through her life with you and think, "Well I'm glad it's him, and not anyone else." But now I realise it's not because you want her to be happy that you let her continue to love me. It's because you're too scared of loosing her, so you'd rather settle for second prize, and hope for the best!"

"That's a lie!" Eddy protested, but now Brick was in full flow.

"You have nothing but Blossom. Absolutely nothing. Your life is meaningless without her, and yet you're just going to let her be carried out of it. You're a coward Eddy."

"Of course I am, that's what I've been saying for the last ten minutes! Why do you care anyway? Would it help inflate your ego if she actually rejected me properly and went back to you?"

"No, but I don't want to see Blossom strapped into to a chair and burnt to death!" Brick finally shouted. There was silence.

"You don't?" Eddy eventually said.

"No, like you, I love Blossom. I don't want to see her hurt. I want her to bring up her kids. I want her to be happy more then I want her to be with me! But if your to cowardly to help her, and just let her blindly stagger into the electric chair, what can I do?"

"What can I do? She wants to be with you. I can't stop that."

"You've got to be cruel to be kind," Brick said bitterly. "By the time the morning papers are out tomorrow, she will feel hated by the entire world. She'll see the harassment you and the children are getting, and she'll decide that the best thing for everyone is if she just leaves you all alone. The only way she'll stop if you tell her how much you really love her."

"Can't the kids do it?" Eddy asked desperately.

"No, she'll think that as their mother, she knows best." Brick turned to walk away, be still seemed angry. Eddy was terrified.

"What if she rejects me? What if she feels betrayed thinks that I've lied to her in the past? What if this ruins us?"

Brick turned back once more. "You are about to lose it all anyway. If you gamble, you might just win."

"If I fail, it will hurt more!" Eddy called after him, but the siren from the ambulance distracted him momentarily. When he looked back, Brick was gone.

* * *

Okay, please review. Sorry if that wasn't as good as normal, it was extremely hard to write. For those of you wondering, Sonic should be back next chapter… 


	8. Time to Pay

Okay, just when you thought you knew where this story was going, we're going to make a 90 degree turn. Or to put it another way, a pi/2 radian turn…

**

* * *

8. Time to Pay**

Morning swept into the cell like warm water into a glacier. Blossom hadn't slept; the bed had been too cold. It was the first time in twelve years she'd had a bed to her self, and it now seemed unnatural. The whole thing felt surreal though, Blossom felt like she was drifting through it. There was no point in getting angry about it, or upset either. Many times she wondered what would happen if the world found out what she'd done, now they had, it felt… average. It had happened; there was nothing exceptional about it. The possible extreme results hadn't occurred, it was playing out exactly as she though it would when she was felling rational.

Blossom looked at the sunlight coming in through the window. It was a beautiful day outside. That seemed fitting, she thought. No drama, no fuss. She'd been found out, and now she had to be punished.

A police office opened the door.

"Breakfast," he said politely. Of course politeness wasn't standard inthe police service, towards criminals at least, but Blossom new most of the Police offices by name.

"Thanks Ralf," she said to emphasis the point. "Any chance of a newspaper?"

"If you're sure," he said, and left. Blossom was slightly concerned that he didn't lock the door behind him. Come on, I'm a murder, she thought.

She looked at the food. "I suppose I'll have to get used to a huge dinning hall once I'm in prison," she thought, "just like a school." She chuckled ironically to herself. Even if she got the death penalty, it would be at least two years before they got round to terminating her. Maybe she'd meet some people she'd put inside while she was there. That could be fun, of sorts.

* * *

Up above, the Kryptonite Prince was checking the plan once more.

"So, seizing her by force will annoy them?" he asked

"Greatly," said Hump-RE, "and so will our method of trailing her. Then, at the same time, we occupy all their major military installations…"

"I thought you said that none of their weapons could harm us?" the Prince said angrily.

"Yes, but once again, it will annoy them. Then all we do is tell the world what we're going to do to Blossom, and that Superman was a spy working for use and recommended this planet as our new home."

"Was he?" the Prince asked, almost certain that he hadn't ordered it.

"Of course not, but no one can prove he wasn't. Before you know it, there will be banners up in support of her. We then just show the footage of there protests to the Intergalactic Republic – selectively edited of course – and by the time they've finished arguing about it we'll be fully established on earth and there will be nothing anyone can do about it."

"And you're sure the humans can't stop us."

"They thought Superman was invincible sir. They won't stand a chance against your forces."

The Prince smiled. "Very well," he said, "bring the ship into low orbit, and get my forces ready. Oh, and send Arm-OR for the girl…"

* * *

The wall of the cell was smashed away. Blossom looked round slowly. A huge man was standing there, grimacing. Alarms were going off all around, but he seemed willing to take his time.

"Blossom Panner," he sneered, "Come with me!" With that he grabbed her and dragged her off. Blossom thought briefly about struggling, then didn't. What was the point?

* * *

MJ was woken up by Edward. "Why are you on the end of my bed?" he asked. MJ blinked.

"I didn't want to be alone," she whimpered slightly, "and Dad was out."

Edward looked at her. "It's okay," he said eventually. "I'll get you breakfast."

Downstairs, Dad was still nowhere to be seen. MJ did notice uncle Boomer passed out along the couch. He was surrounded by bottles. MJ thought about waking him up.

"Don't," her brother said as if reading her mind, "he's pissed."

"Pissed? What does that mean?"

Edward froze momentarily. "It err… means he's ill. But don't say it in front of Mum or Dad for heavens sake!"

"Okay," said MJ. She sat down at the table. Edward started making breakfast.

"Can you get the plates down from the top cupboard, I can't reach," he asked. MJ blinked.

"I'm shorter then you!"

"I can't fly."

"Oh," said MJ, but she still didn't move. Edward stopped.

"What's wrong?" he asked, "you love flying!"

"Yeah…" MJ said, "but… I don't know if I should. Isn't it wrong?

"Why?"

"Well, Mum thing…" MJ tailed off. Edward put what he was doing down, and sat down next to MJ.

"It's time you learnt some facts of life," he said gently. "MJ, is everything either right or wrong?"

"Ermmm…"

"Come on," Edward encouraged gently, "I'm not Mum or Dad, so I'm not going to get angry. Tell me what you think."

MJ thought for a moment. "Well, yes."

"Really, is crossing the road wrong or right?"

"Err… I don't know? Not really."

"What if I was crossing the road to get away from someone who needed my help? Or if I crossed over to help someone on the other side? Are they now right or wrong?"

"Umm, yes?"

"Good. Let's have another example. A very sick man is waiting out side a city in the desert. The gates are shut, should the city open the gates and let him in?"

"Yes," MJ said defiantly.

"What if the illness he was suffering from was very infectious… I mean spread easily? Should the city endanger its population to help this man?"

"Err… it depends on whether he's good or not."

"Or what if you could cure all cancer for ever, by killing one person? Would you?"

"Err…"

"What if it was ten people, or one hundred, or one thousand?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" MJ cried. "What's your point?"

"Don't worry MJ," Edward put a hand round his sister, "You did very well. No my point is that very few decisions are black and white. And different people will have different ways of making those decisions, depending on what they value. And what does this mean?"

"That… some people are wrong?"

Edward sighed. "Okay, have you heard of Winston Churchill?"

"Yes, he led Britain to victory in World War Two!"

"Yep," said Edward, "of course we – as in the USA – helped, but if it wasn't for the British, Canadians and there other allies there would have been no one left to save by the time we got round to helping."

"And then the Nazis would have won?" suggested MJ.

"No, the Russians would have, but that's beside the point. The point is would you say that Churchill was a good man?"

"Yes!" MJ felt confident about that one.

"What about someone who said that the Kurds in northern Mesopotamia should be gassed for their attacks on British colonial forces?"

MJ was quick off the mark here. "He did that?" Edward nodded.

"So was he good or bad?" MJ paused.

"I don't know?" she seemed worried. "Should I know?"

"No, you shouldn't. What my point was is that all people are capable of good and evil, and no one is purely good or bad. Not even Mum. She made a mistake, we all do. But that doesn't make her a different person, it makes her human."

MJ thought about what he'd said. "Okay," she said.

"Great," said Edward, who sounded better as well. "Why don't you fly up and get those plates, okay." MJ nodded, and left a pink streak behind her as she did.

* * *

Breakfast was ready when Eddy reappeared. He seemed cheerful.

"I got rid of the journalist!" he said, "That's one success."

"How?" asked MJ.

"I put Edward's sports kit on the front lawn."

"I'll wash it tomorrow," Edward said automatically. Suddenly, there was thumping on the door.

"EDDY OPEN UP!" shouted Buttercup. He did, and she, Bubbles and Butch crashed in. Boomer sat up.

"Ow," he whispered, "what's the problem."

"It's on the television," said Butch angrily, "some aliens have taken Blossom!"

"What," Boomer sat up quickly, "Hootnons?"

"Wrong fic."

"Kryptonites?"

"Yes!" screamed Buttercup. Eddy snatched the remote and turned on the television. On the screen flashed up a Human like being.

"So, if your Blossom survives trial by combat, we will leave your pathetic planet alone. If she looses though, we will declare her guilty, and punish you all by making you our slaves. Oh, and just so there is no confussion, she looses WHEN she dies."

The screen returned to static. Eddy switched it off.

"Dam," he said. Then he slumped on to the sofa. Behind him, Buttercup started shaking slightly. How could her last words to Blossom be the ones she said yesterday? It was terrible. It couldn't be!

Bubbles started blubing slightly. Boomer took this as his cue, and jumped up to take her in his arms, as she sobbed quietly. At the back, MJ stood there, confused and scared. But she heard a familiar voice behind her, although she was the only one.

"That's not going to happen!" said Brick determinedly, and MJ found her self nodding in agreement.

* * *

The Prince turned away from the camera. Hump-RE led the subordinates' applause. "Brilliant sire," he said, "they'll be screaming and shouting in minutes.

The Prince scowled. "Why did I have to talk like that? It made me sound like a comic-book super villain!"

"Well, it had to be something they could instantly rally against," explained Hump-RE. "Our research shows that these humans are not very bright, we had to keep it simple."

"Very well Hump-RE, you may go. Send Arm-OR in."

The huge Kryptonian entered, dragging Blossom along the floor like a rag. "There you go sire," he said. "One murderer."

"Ah good," the Prince approached Blossom. "Stand up," he ordered.

For Blossom nothing seemed real right now. It was all too strange. Two days ago she'd been in her life, now she was in some sort of sci-fi move. She saw no point in going against the flow, so she stood up. The Prince studied her closely.

"I wouldn't think you could kill him," he said stiffly. "How'd you do it? Did you seduce him and snuff him as he slept?"

This got the expected laugh from his subjects. Blossom shook her head. "No, I beat him to death in a free fight," she said dejectedly. The Prince looked up, and smashed her into the floor.

"You don't speak until you're asked to!" he stormed. "Have you never been in court before or something? Answer!"

Blossom spat blood. "One count of stealing golf clubs," she replied. The Prince laughed.

"Change of plan people, I think I will fight her in this "trial". I'll be a nice warm up before I set all the humans to work, building New Krypton." He turned to Blossom. "That speech I made to your planet may have been over exaggerated, but I still intend to carry out every last word of it."

"Even leaving if I win?" Blossom expected to be hit, but instead, the Prince just laughed, and picked up and iron bar.

"I don't think that's a large possibility," he said, crushing the bar into molten metal, "but for the record, no. Even if you do win, your planet is ours. Take her to the cells Arm-OR."

"With pleasure," he replied, and he grabbed Blossom by the wrist and swung her over her shoulder. Then something struck him. "All the cells have some one in them."

"Oh yes," said the Prince, "those dammed mobians. I'll tell you what," he said evilly, "put her in with the one who broke!"

"Yes sire," he said gruffly and he stomped out dragging Blossom along with her.

* * *

Soon, they were down in an even dingier area of the ship. Arm-OR stopped, and swung Blossom up against the wall hard. He looked her up and down.

"Shame you're not a bit younger," he said, "or I would have been able to do more then just imprison you. Do you have a daughter?"

Blossom tried to keep calm. "No."

"Liar. I'll keep an eye out for her. For now that young Hedgehog will do." Blossom mentally froze. This morning it had all seemed so simple and… slightly anticlimactic. But now, it was so unreal, it seemed like a dream. It couldn't be…

Arm-OR kicked a cell door open and chained her up, handing her by a wall medieval style. "Enjoy your company," he laughed, and he stomped out, locking the door solidly behind him.

Blossom looked up. It was crazy, she though as her mind, still not fully recognising the situation processed the latest event. He was chained to the other side of the cell. His spikes were burnt and his skin cut. He'd been beaten, torched and fried, but he was just opposite her now. He looked up at her, and the feeling of an uncontrollable dream/nightmare continued through Blossom's mind. She hadn't done anything today but gone where she was placed. Now, she was here. It was unbelievable.

Blossom was smashed back to reality moments later, when he spoke to her in the same dry, slightly mocking, bitter way that he would have used had they been in his office:

"Are you the latest method of torture?" asked Sonic the Hedgehog.

* * *

Please review. Thanks. Next chapter's more of Sonic and Blossom. 


	9. More About Sonic and Blossom

**9. More About Sonic and Blossom**

There were many ways Blossom could have responded. She could have apologised for abandoning Sonic. She could have tried to be as cool about the situation as Sonic was. She could have skipped the petty chat and immediately get on to trying to escape. But instead she said this:

"YOU TOLD THEM!"

Sonic blinked. "Told them what?"

"You told them that I'd killed Superman, you bastard! You've destroyed my life!"

"Ditto, you left me to die," Sonic said bluntly.

"That was completely different!" Blossom flustered, "I was under pressure…"

"Oh yes, and I suppose you think that I walked in here, they gave me a cup of tea and I sat down in a deep comfy chair and idly chatted to them about how you brutally killed someone over a crumpet!" Sonic spat slightly as he swung from the chains. "And then they put me in here for my convenience!"

Blossom said nothing for a moment. "So how did they get you to talk," she eventually asked.

"They tortured me of course," said Sonic bitterly. "They burnt me, cut me, sliced me and electrocuted me. And I didn't say a word."

"What? Then how come…"

"I didn't say a word UNTIL they threatened to hurt Sonia. Then I found my self spilling the lot." Sonic's shoulders slumped. Blossom looked at him in pity.

"Okay," she calmed down, "I would have done the same thing."

"Of course you would have," said Sonic, "that doesn't make me feel better."

"Is that an insult?"

"If you want it to be one."

Blossom decided to let it go. "So they've captured everyone?" she asked.

"Yep," said Sonic. "Me, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow and Sonia. They're also in cells around here. They're doing better then me… I hope."

"How? You've been gone of months!"

"Space is huge Blossom," said Sonic bluntly. "We were caught out in space two weeks ago, and we were still a week from home. They just ambushed us and forced us to dock. And here we are."

"How do you get ambushed in space? There's nothing to hide behind!"

"Don't ask me, Shadow was in charge, I was just cargo. Anyway they wanted us because they thought that I'd killed Superman."

"Why didn't you say that you had?" asked Blossom, "you had nothing to loose."

"Glad to see you can keep your sense of humour at a time like this."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"Oh come on Blossom, why would I want two governments trying to execute me! Then I'd be even more like you!"

Blossom sighed, and slumped for a moment. "So you think I'm doomed."

"Maybe," said Sonic, "but public opinion and the media are fickle. Before you know it you're going to be championed as a hero of earth again, once you've won the fight of course."

Blossom laughed. "I never thought you'd go for the mindless optimism route," she said sarcastically. "That's not going to happen."

"Oh really?" Sonic said. "If Robotnik took over Mobius again tomorrow, who do you think would be the first person they would go for help?"

"You of course."

"Why? They hate me!"

"But you're the one they all remember, leading them to freedom."

"Then the same applies here," Sonic said. Blossom shook her head.

"Not a chance. They have far too many heroes here for one to stand out. Anyway, have you seen the newspapers?"

"Have you seen the Mobian ones? There are a lot of people who have good memories of you, who owe you their life to you. If you could even semi- redeem yourself, they'd all come crawling out of the wood work, and the floaters will swap sides. Only a couple of hardliners would still stand against you and most of them would keep it too themselves."

"Until I slipped up again," Blossom said, "Then they'd all be waiting to stick the knife in."

"That's the price you pay for a public life," Sonic said. Blossom had to agree with that.

"But even then, I need to win the fight, or do something to be a hero. What chance do I have of that? This Kryptonite Prince is far stronger than me." She sighed. "I'm going to die this evening. On live television. Perhaps I should just accept it. It would mean I could be with Brick again. But then I'd be away from the children. And then they'd either grow up thinking I was nothing more than a murderer, or that I was unfairly killed and that it was the government's fault. And then they'd become super villains or something. What a legacy to leave behind." She bashed her own head against the wall. "Ahhh! It's hopeless!"

Sonic hung there for a moment, as Blossom mumbled under her breath desperately. Then he spoke. "You haven't always been this pathetic, have you?"

"No," she responded sadly.

"In fact, it started about… I don't know, fifteen years ago? Right?"

"Yes. I don't suppose YOUR'RE going to try and lecture me on Brick now?"

Sonic ignored this comment. Instead he spoke authroiatively and comfortably:

"Superman was the greatest hero the world has ever known. He was loved by all for his honest pure heroism. He always knew what was right and what was wrong. He let nothing in his life stand in the way of his duty. He inspired generation after generation of mutants and aliens to cope with there differences and to use their abilities to fight for truth and justice. He was always there when needed, but still found time to hold down a respectable day job, and to live a perfect American life style. All who stood against him fell; no one could even scratch mighty man of steel. Until you killed him."

Blossom's head had sunk lower and lower during that speech. Now she was in pain. "I didn't!" she screamed in a pointless denial.

"Why are you denying it?" asked Sonic, "did you listen to what I just said?"

"Yes! I don't want to be responsible for that!"

Sonic laughed. "You're looking at this form the wrong angle! Anybody else would be proud if they smashed someone like Superman! No one else has ever even got close. But you took him on – in the spirit of revenge – and you kicked his sorry arse into the next century!"

"I…"

"When I found you in that alley way, surrounded by those three bodies, I could barely believe your story. I mean, you hardly had a scratch to your skin. Don't tell me Superman didn't defend himself! You beat him easily. You should be proud of it!"

"But I'm not!"

"If you want to win this fight, you're going to have to be! Say it! I killed Superman!"

"I… killed… Superman."

"Say it like you mean it!"

"I killed Superman!"

"With pride Blossom, with pride!"

"I killed Superman!"

"One more time!"

"I KILLED SUPERMAN!" Blossom screamed and she stretched her self out in a glowing realise of energy. She relaxed. "That felt good," she admitted.

"Perfect!" said Sonic, "if you just keep thinking like that, you'll have no problems defeating that arrogant Prince."

"Okay!" Blossom was still buzzing. Then she felt stupid. "We're still chained up you know."

"Yep. Why does that bother you?"

"Nothing, it just seems a bit anticlimactic."

"Oh, you'll get used to that," Sonic said. He looked her up and down, slightly concerned. "Were going to need to get a change of clothes to you, we don't need you being handy capped by heels and a long dress, do we?"

"Umm, how are we going to do that?"

"I don't know," Sonic admitted. Blossom considered things for a moment. Then she laser zapped Sonic's chains away. The hedgehog fell to the floor, of balance and in a heap.

"You could have warned me!" he said surprisingly angrily, before smiling. "Good shot."

"Really, I was aiming for your head."

"Sure you were." Sonic scratched behind his ear. "Okay, I don't think I'm strong enough to break you out…"

"I'd only slow you down," Blossom said, "you get back to earth somehow, and take charge again. I'll be waiting."

"Good, I'll come up with a plan. See yah!" He spun through the door, knocking it open and streaked into the corridor. Blossom waited. He really hoped Sonic didn't run into any guards. He wouldn't stand a chance.

The door was opened again, and Sonic reappeared. He dumped some knocked out Kryptonites inside.

"Wrong turning," he said, "but I'll store them in here if you don't mind.

Blossom found her tongue. "How…"

"What?"

"You were always so hopeless at fighting back on earth. Didn't you lose to Mojo once?"

"Lucky shot," Sonic said calmly, "anyway, I had to keep you lot on your toes. If I'd done it all myself, you would have got lax."

"Wasn't one of the criticisms the government made about the war that you insisted on doing everything your self?"

Sonic didn't answer that. "If you see Tails or Sonia, tell them I'll be back. If you see Shadow tell him he's a dick, and if you see Knuckles tell him his long stay car parking ticket at the spaceport will have expired by now!"

"Okay," Blossom agreed. "Umm, look Sonic, I'm sorry about the leaving you to be dragged to your death thing."

Sonic shrugged. "We all make mistakes. For once were even, okay?"

Some shouting came down the corridor; "Where's patrol 128?" Sonic looked up.

"Gone!" he said, and the blue flash disappeared.

* * *

Okay, please review. Thanks. 


	10. Rallying Call

**10. Rallying Call**

MJ had been trying for hours now, but she couldn't think. There had to be a way she could help Mum, but she couldn't think of anything. She didn't even know where she was. Well, she knew she was on the Kryptonite space ship, but where that was was a different matter. MJ needed help.

She opened the door to her room, and looked out into the hallway. It was dark; the lights were off. Down stairs, she could hear Dad was cooking dinner. He'd been doing it for five hours now; even MJ suspected that he was doing it just to distract himself. She also thought that if she asked Dad what he thought she could do to help, he'd try to stop her – keep her out of danger. So MJ couldn't go there.

That only left one person. MJ pushed the door open to her brother's room. Edward didn't respond when she entered. He was starring at the television, mainly because he was playing Colin McRae Rally (Okay, product placement over.) MJ glanced at her brother, and then the screen. He had a look of unrivalled concentration on his face, and it showed, as he was two minutes ahead of the next car.

Edward was often – make that always – extremely competitive about his computer games, so MJ decided to wait until he'd reached the end of the special stage before saying anything. Instead, she glanced at his bed. It was covered in newspapers, separated into separate sheets. Every article was about Blossom.

"Why are you reading this stuff?" asked MJ, forgetting her decision to keep quite. Edward waited until the computer model of a rally car on the screen in front of him had stopped barrel rolling from the resulting accident before answering.

"You can often see the truth through the web of lies," he said. "I was hoping I could find out about Mum."

"Could you?" Edward's car hit another rock.

"No. I'm too stupid." He bent down and switched the console off.

"You didn't have to do that," MJ said. Edward turned round.

"It wasn't important," he said. "Not today. It will be tomorrow though."

"Why?"

"Because I'll need it to distract me from… well, you know."

MJ looked at her miserable brother. "Have you given up?" she asked.

"Probably."

"We can't! We have to do something!"

"Have you got any ideas?"

"No, that's why I'm here. I was hoping you might."

Edward sighed. "Sorry MJ, I'm not a superhero."

"But you know everything; you knew all about that thing this morning and… stuff."

"The more you know, the more you realise you don't know. Sorry."

MJ looked at her feet, and left. Edward sighed, and looked for another computer game. He stopped at Grand Prix 2. It was very old, but good fun. Maybe winning a race in something rubbish like a Simtek would make him feel better…

"_Hi kid," he said kindly, "you want to be a racing driver, do you?"_

"_Yeah," said Edward, he looked at his body. "Not much chance of that now."_

"_Why not?"_

"_Because I'm a mutant, so they won't let me, and I'm dead. That's why you're here, isn't it." He surprised himself with his calmness._

"_Well don't worry about it," the cloaked strange said, "you wouldn't have made it anyway if you gave up that easily."_

"_What?"_

"_It's like all things in life. If you want to reach the top, you have to work dammed hard and not let things like serious injuries and not being allowed to get in your way. That doesn't mean you should walk over people to get there, but don't let anything walk over you. Even death."_

"_Pah," Edward muttered, "what would you know about motor racing… or life for that matter?"_

_The cloaked figure sighed, and opened the cloak a bit. Edward glanced at the overalls underneath, and then clicked._

"_Your Roland Ratze…" he began in awe._

"_Please just call me Roland," Roland smiled. "And I think you can be a racing driver. You've got determination."_

"_Is that important?" Roland nodded._

"_Determination can substitute for talent, up to a point. Now lets get you back in your body, okay?"_

Edward jumped back. The flash back had reminded him of something. All this didn't mean his dreams for his life were over. It just meant he needed even more determination.

Giving up has nothing to do with determination. So he started thinking.

* * *

"Come on people!" Buttercup shouted once more over the huge table. "We can't just leave her up there to die!"

"We've got to do something over then just sit and chat!" Bubbles said. Once again Batman banged his hammer to try to bring the meeting to order. Part of the problem was that since Blossom hadn't got round to appointing a new Second in Command, several other heroes also had hammers they were also banging.

"Why should we bother?" said the Green Lantern dejectedly. "What are we fighting for? If all our leaders have been murderers and Superman a traitor, what have we got to hold on to? How do we know that we are right?"

"We can have that debate after we've rescued Blossom!" said Butch.

"I don't know," said Vegeta, "a fight to the death could do her some good. It would be very educational."

"She could die!"

"That would be an important lesson."

"May I remind you all," said Spiderman, "that if Blossom looses, the Kryptonites will take over the world, and make us slaves."

"That doesn't change things for all of us," said Raven, but no one was listening.

"No one ever beat Superman," said Robin, "what chance do we have?"

"Some of us haven't tried before," said Goku optimistically.

"And Blossom HAS!" said Buttercup.

"Oh, and that's a good reason to get her back?" said Flash. "Can't you just accept she is a murder and should be treated as such?"

"Can you accept that about Superman?" asked Bubbles, but Boomer hauled her back.

"We don't need to start another fight," he said.

"We are ashamed about Superman," said Wonder Woman, "but surely you are ashamed of Blossom?" Buttercup's head slumped uncharacteristically.

"Well, maybe. But we should still fight!"

"What's the point?" said Cyclops sadly. "We don't have what it takes." As the heroes listened to what he said, they all went silent, and most of their heads dropped. The few that looked defiant didn't say anything to back their looks up.

"We don't have the desire," Cyclops continued. "Some of us don't have the strength; of body or will. Some of us have lost our faith in being a superhero. Some of us have lost faith in our selves. We've all lost our leaders, and there aren't any left. Without strength, desire, commitment, belief and leadership, we've got nothing…."

"Which translates into mobian for "we're all a bunch of mindless cowards"!"

Everyone turned round. Sonic was battered, blackened and scared. But he was standing before them, with a gritty smile on his face. Everyone gaped accept one "person," who spoke.

"What took you so long?" said Piccolo knowingly.

"Sorry big ears, I had an escape pod crash," Sonic replied in the same style. Someone else finally found there tongue.

"S…s…Sonic? What are you doing here?" asked Batman.

Sonic jumped on to the table, and slid along its polished surface till he was standing over Batman. "You said you needed a leader? And I might have a few of those other things you wanted in my pocket!" He jumped back into the centre of the table. "Okay, let's pull ourselves together! You're a complete mess!" he looked around at the group of dejected/surprised Superheroes. Then he smiled.

"I've got the measure of all of you, you know," he said smugly. "Do you know why I lied about what Blossom had done? Not only for the reason I gave her, but also because I could see what was going to happen. Imagine if I had told you that Superman had killed Brick and Blossom had killed Superman? If I'd told you that the only person – be it Superman or Blossom (he looked at Buttercup and Bubbles as he said the second name) – that you looked up to had fallen off their pedestal? That they were human after all? Everyone needs a hero; someone who they think will be strong and stand up for their beliefs, what ever the situation. Even you lot! But there aren't many heroes for you, are there? If you'd lost them, I thought you would have become a bunch of floundering jelly fish. And what do you know? I was right! Everyone in this room is a Jelly fish!" he sighed dramatically. "If it wasn't for Blossom, they'd have already won."

"What?" said Bubbles, "you mean…"

"I do indeed," said Sonic smugly, "the one person who has nothing to gain from the Kryptonites loosing is going to keep going. You lot have everything! Family, friends, or time to make them! All Blossom has – all I have – is a stay of execution. But we're going to keep going; if not for any reason other than that it's our job. A job we're good at, a job you're ALL good at! Nothing is different today to the last time the world was nearly destroyed; it is just our minds that are different this time. So ignore them. Superman's a murder? So what! Why does that make you believe was a spy as well, just because some guy that's trying to destroy us is telling us that he was? It's all in the mind! If you want to sit here and think about how awful things are all day that's fine. Or your can actually do something about it! Now!"

* * *

Brick distractedly shook the rattle above Brandy's head. The Green puff giggled happily, burbling as she did. There were some advantages to raising a child in Death's domain, i.e. it didn't eat, so it also didn't…

Roland re-entered the apartment. Brick nodded to him. "Hi Roland, how was your day," he asked unenthusiastically.

Roland walked over to the cot. "Good, I got to meat the head of the Russian police. I expect yours was pretty good to, eh?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know," said Roland, fetching a bottle for Brandy (just because she didn't need feeding, didn't mean that she didn't enjoy it.) "Blossom's nearly here. You must be so excited. Have you started looking for a place yet?"

"Roland…"

"I mean, you won't want to live here anymore," he paused. "I suppose you get Brandy to right?"

Brick wondered how to phrase his next statement. "Did you actually see how she's going to die?" he asked.

"Nope, I just saw the headlines. Why, what's wrong?"

"She's going to lose trial by combat. That's how." Brick turned back to Brandy, who'd gone quiet.

"Oh. And you don't want that, right?"

"I'd rather it was painless for her. And that she got to see her kids grow up first. I want her to have a fulfilled life on earth first, rather than arriving here with lots of regrets."

Roland thought for a moment. "Is she certain to lose?"

"Probably. If I could help her somehow though…"

Roland when into his bedroom, and he came out with a small bottle. "Here," he said. Brick looked at it.

"The doctor says I have another week until I take my next urine sample."

"It's not for that!" said Roland angrily, "It's my reward from Death."

"What, like I got Brandy?"

"And the chance to appear to your brother, yes. You get one after fifteen years, the next after sixty, the next after two hundred and forty, and so on."

"What does it do?" Brick studied it. "It's got a clear liquid inside!"

"Yep, it's a standard fifteen year reward. It allows you to interact with the living world for three minutes. All you have to do is drink it."

Brick gapped. Now he could help her… somehow. What could he do in three minutes, other then kiss her? Then something occurred to him.

"You're giving this to me? It's almost priceless, and you won't get another reward for another thirty years!"

"Huh, what could I use it for? Scaring some old friends maybe." Roland turned on the television. "Don't say any more about it."

"Oh come on," Brick said, "You must want something for it!"

"Well since you insist," Roland swung round, "you can baby-sit Brandy and cover my shifts while me an Ayton go to see Austria all-stars play Brazil all-stars at football. And buy me a new Austria scarf."

"I didn't think Austria played football."

"European football."

"Oh." Brick paused. This was too good to be true. "Thanks Roland," he said.

"Great. By the way, the match is over the over side of the Domain, so I'll be gone for a week. And Brandy's going to start teething. (The kid gurgled on cue). I hope you've got some aspirin…"

* * *

Okay thanks. Please review. (For anyone who's interested, it's possible to work out the year from this chapter. If you have a guess, tell me.) 


	11. Get Ready

Two apologies. Firstly, sorry this chapter is so short. Secondly, sorry about the random bit in the middle. I asked my brother(mg34)to right a break up bit in the middle of a scene, and that is what he wrote. By the way, that is the same brother that did a lot of the plot for "Parallel Lives" (Sonic's back story and the ending,) but anyone who has read his stories will know that he doesn't post anything serious on here…

**

* * *

11. Get Ready…**

After Sonic's escape, Blossom had been moved to a different cell. After being interrogated about the incident first. Fortunately, it hadn't been too bad; they wanted to keep her fairly fresh for the slaughter later. But the new cell was right underneath the torture room, and she could here the screams and moans of the others.

The new cell also didn't have chains restraining her to the wall. Instead it was very firmly built; Blossom couldn't force a way out. Still, at least she could walk around, and make sure she her muscles were loose for the fight. She had to make sure she was ready for it; there was no way she was going to give up without a fight.

There was a flash and Blossom suddenly turned round. She was no longer alone in the cell, but she didn't recognise the new comer immediately.

"Err, hello?" she said, but she raised her fists just in case.

"Hi Blossom!" said the newcomer friendlily, "I've been sent here to give you some advise by Sonic."

Blossom finally recognised him. "Goku?" she said. "Sonic sent you?"

"Yep, he gave me these," he handed her a pile of clothes, "and also I've got to give you some pointers."

Blossom looked at the clothes. It consisted of a pair of trousers, a top and two plimsoll-like shoes. All were stretchy and perfectly designed to give her the required coverage for fighting. But, having been sent by Sonic, they were Pink with a black strip at the appropriate point on the top. Once again, Blossom regretted not repealing the uniform rule when she had the chance. Still it was more practical then the dress she was currently in.

Goku had been waiting patiently. "Okay!" he said, "let's look at how you're going to fight him! What's your plan?"

Blossom thought for a moment. "Plan? I don't know."

"Okay," said Goku, "you haven't fought many people that are the same size as you and stronger have you?"

Blossom thought. Other then the ruff's and Superman (the latter of which was in totally different circumstances) she never really had. And they'd never really beaten the Ruff's in a straight fight. Sure, she had fought creatures stronger then her, but they'd mostly been giant monsters.

"No," she admitted, "I haven't. Is this going to cause a problem?"

Goku scratched his head. "No," he said, "I've looked at some footage of those few fights when you were, and I can tell you where you're at your best. What you need to do is to back off them."

"Back off?"

"Yes, just focus on blocking the attacks of your opponent while looking for an opening. When you see one, then you attack. Until you do, just defend. And remember that he's stronger than you, so you can't force an opening."

"I think I see what you mean," said Blossom thoughtfully, "when I was fighting MJ – my daughter – was just blocking her, because I didn't want to attack. As long as I had space to back into she couldn't hit me, and I could see lots of openings I could have attacked through."

"Did you?"

"No, I didn't want to hurt her."

Goku shook her head. "Shame, she could have learnt a lot. Still, you'll have to be a lot more aggressive if you want to win this, The Kryptonite Prince is a lot stronger and more durable then you, so you'll need to take every opportunity you get, and make it count."

"Right!" said Blossom. "Do you think I can win this?"

"Err…" Goku thought about this for a moment. Blossom didn't take this as an automatic bad sign; Goku didn't lie, so he was liable to think about his response. Eventually, he answered. "Yes. But only just if you remember one thing."

"What?"

"Sonic told me this. He says that Chaos Energy is a lot stronger when it's mad…"

Sonic strode around the SSR building. He was home. It was strange to think like that, he thought, but he hadn't realised how much this place meant to him before he'd left.

Well he was half home. The other half was up on that ship. Sonia, Tails… Knuckles if he was feeling generous. They were probably getting the beating of a life time for his escape. Hopefully Shadow was too.

* * *

Sonic glanced around the SSR, at all the heroes making there preparations. No one had made a fuss about him taking over again. They hadn't even tried to arrest him. They were either weak or desperate, probably both. Still, he had a plan, and they needed one.

The blus Hedgehogswung on his heel and shoved the door open to his office, which he was quietly pleased that Blossom hadn't used. In side, the four Green/Blue Puffs/Ruffs were pouring over some blueprints of the Kryptonite spaceship that Sonic had had the foresight to nick while he was escaping.

"Memorised them?" he asked. They all nodded. (Well, Boomer took another look and then nodded.)

"Yep," said Buttercup determinedly, "let's go kick their arses!" Butch nodded quietly in agreement, he was squeezing a ball menacingly in his hand. Boomer and Bubbles looked less convinced.

"Err… why us?" Boomer asked.

"Aren't you the ones who want to rescue Blossom?" Sonic asked slyly.

"Yes, but your plan doesn't include rescuing her," Bubbles pointed out.  
"Yes it does!" Sonic replied indignantly.

"But you told us she has to win the fight…"

"She'll win the fight, no problem. But she won't be capable of escaping afterwards, she'll be exhausted. That's when we rescue her." The Puffs/Ruffs looked slightly blank. Sonic sighed; Chaos Energy creatures normally weren't this stupid. "Let's go over this one more time, shall we…

**We interrupt this story for Thirty Seconds of Cell and Freeza:**

"What's on TV?" asked Cell as he entered the living room.

"Cooler at the moment," said a rather irritated Freeza, "He managed to glue himself to it some how!"

"I was just trying to wash its hair," declared the not quite all there Icea. Cell pause for thought as he watched Freeza chip his brother off the TV.

"I'm going to go out," he said decisively.

**We now return you to your scheduled PPG story: **_mg34._

"Got it this time?" They all nodded. "Good," said Sonic, "Let's get cracking! All we have to do is to wait for the fight to start."

"Hang on," said Bubbles, "I don't know if I can teleport that far!"

"Goku managed it," Butch said, "and he taught you how, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but Goku didn't have five people with him!"

"Oh it's easy," said Buttercup simply. "All you need is enough power."

"But how do I…" Bubbles stopped. The feeling had come back. It was saying; _Do it now, do it NOW!_

"Back in a minute," she said, "I just need to, err… relax." Bubbles shot out. Boomer sighed.

"She always says that when she's going to the can," he said.

* * *

The corridor was empty. Bubbles pushed open the door, and wondered over to the safe. Inside was what she'd craved ever since she'd first seen it. Now, it would finally be hers!

The safe was locked, but Bubbles new the code. However, she had barely started typing it in, when she felt the power of the Emerald inside. Immediately, she ripped the door off and grabbed it. It glowed in her hands bright blue. Bubbles could feel its energy, spreading warmth around her body. She held it there for a few moments and then shoved it in her back pocket.

_At last…._

* * *

Okay, please review. More soon, I hope. 


	12. Set

Once again, sorry for the delay in updating.

**

* * *

11. Set…**

Eddy looked at the mess he'd made of the kitchen. It was impressive. He could fill a good few hours tidying this up. By then the fight may have started and finished, and maybe he could see Blossom again/prepare to spend the rest of his life as a Kryptonite salve. It was all good!

Still, the kids were probably hungry, and he had, in all the chaos, actually prepared some food. This had not been his primary objective, but it was a nice side affect.

"DINNER!" he called upstairs. Then he thought that perhaps he should go talk to them, they were probably very distressed. Then again, maybe it was better to keep things as normal as possible. He hadn't heard any movement, so he called up again.

"It's going cold!"

No response. As normal as possible, thought Eddy, so he left them to it for a moment while he started his dinner. That was the normal way; let them learn by experience that you come when you're called.

After ten minutes had past, he was getting concerned. Maybe they hadn't heard him. They were probably playing music loudly in there rooms… with headphones in. That accounted for the fact they couldn't hear him combined with the complete silence upstairs. Of course neither child had a music system in their room, but Eddy wasn't going to let a minor detail like that foil his perfectly logical explanation.

He went upstairs. "MJ," he said, knocking on her door. There was no response, so – being a parent – he went straight in. She wasn't there.

"That's funny," Eddy said to himself. He was speaking aloud now. The deafly silence emanating from the house was beginning to freak him out. He moved quickly across the hall way in to the Edwards room. Not to his great surprise, but to his extreme worry, it was empty too.

However, there were two pieces of paper obvious to the eye, lying on bed. One was a note that read:

_Dad, gone for some fresh air with MJ, will be back soon. Edward._

The other was a collection of randomly scribbled notes, in a sort of brainstorm. Two of the arcs particularly caught Eddy's now petrified eyes. One said:

_Ship will be over head at seven o'clock._

And the other said:

_Puffs can survive in space._

* * *

Edward looked at the knocked out Guard. He glanced at MJ. "Well that's no way to get the air lock open," he said.

MJ nodded happily. "Yep, I made a good hit," she said. "Can we attack some more? Please?"

Why are you asking me, thought Edward. You're the Superhero, you're the one who dragged me here. I don't even know how to fly! But he could hardly say all that. So instead he said; "Perhaps we should be more subtle."

The sound of footsteps could be heard from round the corner, some one wanted to know why the door had been opened. A small smile crept over MJ's face, and a couple of dribbles of acid appeared around her mouth. She was ready for a fight.

However, Edward had another idea. He kicked open an air vent in the wall, and dragged MJ into it. The Kryptonites arrived moments later, and found nothing. "Just like in the movies," he muttered.

MJ was less impressed. "I could have had them!" she hissed. Edward turned round and looked at her.

"Keep the spider under control," he said bluntly, "you're supposed to like dark places." It hit the spot; MJ looked rather ashamed of herself.

"Sorry," she said, "but it really thinks it can win, I mean I really think I can win!"

"Good, but that doesn't mean we should test the theory."

MJ accepted this, leaving Edward to try and work out where to go. He could barely believe they were here. As far as he was concerned, MJ had almost just flown up to the ship – dragging him behind – and knocked o the door. Someone must have spotted them, surely. These aliens were far too arrogant, he thought. Now, which way was the way to the prisons?

* * *

Hump-RE knocked on the door. He got no response, so he gently pushed it open. The Prince was inside, calmly warming up for the fight by bashing a lead punching bag. He looked up.

"Ah, Hump-RE," he said, lazily hitting the punching bag so hard that the chain broke, "is it time?"

"Nearly time sire, so I thought you'd like one last situation update."

"Yes, that would be good. Proceeded."

"Of course sire. On earth, our forces have seized all their major military installations, and have thus far encountered only futile resistance. Everything is in place for us to take over the planet once you have killed the earthling-creature-thing."

"And no trouble from those mutants you worried so much about," the Prince asked smugly. Hump-RE winced.

"Not as yet sire," he said.

"Of course not," the Prince smashed another improbably large object with easy. "They know who the new masters are. If they play their cards right, a few of them may even be quite prosperous under my reign."

"Of course," Hump-RE coughed. "When are we going to tell the public that the king is dead?" he asked quietly. The Prince swung round.

"Soon enough," he said in a harsh whisper. "We can't do it now, that would just leave to a violent succession. Some of our people doubt my ability to lead; they would use it as an opportunity to attack. But, if we wait until I have established a new Krypton, then who would dare challenge me?"

"No one sire."

"Precisely. By the way, have we tracked the Hedgehog?"

"Arm-OR is working on it as we speak sire, torturing all the mobians until we find out were he could have gone."

"Having fun is he," chuckled the Prince.

"I believe so especially with the young female hedgehog."

The Prince laughed. "Good, good," he said, "but surely the Puff is the most likely to know where he is. She helped him escape after all."

"Yes, but it was thought that torturing her would ruin tonight's show. Maybe you could ask her just before you kill her, you know, pretend that if she does, you'll show her mercy."

"Good idea Hump-RE, I will. Shall we begin?"

* * *

Blossom tried to keep her self warmed-up in her cell. She had no idea when they were coming for her, but when they did, she needed to be on top form. She thought once more about what Goku had said. Be defensive, back off him, look for the opening, and when you get one punish him for it. She had the tactic. Now, she just needed to execute it.

There was some rattling from the vent above, and Blossom suddenly heard the last thing she expected to hear.

"MUM!"

She swung round. Edward dropped out of the air vent and smacked into the floor. Blossom was still processing this shock, when MJ flew out of the vent and dived for a hug. Instinctively, Blossom provided one.

"Mummy, I've missed you!" she wept. Blossom stroked her hair as the Spider-Puff shivered in her arms.

"It's okay MJ," she said, still trying to process the fact that the kids were here, "what are you doing here."

"We came to rescue you," Edward said, "or, MJ came to rescue you, but she's not allowed out of the house on her own!"

Blossom laughed. "And how are you my boy?" she asked. Edward shrugged.

"I'm fine," he lied. "Can I have a hug?" Blossom freed an arm from MJ, and Edward move into the hold. She hugged him too. "Why did it all have to change," he asked tearfully, "why do things have to be different?"

Blossom knocked his cap off and starched the back of his head, like she had when he was young. "Things have always been like this," she said gently, "it's just when you're young, we try to protect you from it."

"Why do you stop?" MJ asked. Blossom thought for a moment.

"Because a time will come when you want to be free from protection. When you will want your independence. You might not feel it now, but you will. But when you start to want your independence, you won't want to be taught how to use it. So as a responsible parent, we try to teach you how to handle independence before you want it. If that makes any sense."

"It doesn't."

"Oh, well in that case, we stop because we do," said Blossom in a typical mum tone. MJ giggled.

"It's strange to think of you as a superhero Mum," she said earnestly. "I can't believe that your about to fight for the future of the entire world."

"She not," said Edward, pulling away from the hug, "lets get out of here…" He was interrupted by a buzzing from his pocket. He pulled out his mobile. "Oh shit its dad!"

"Don't swear in front of MJ," Blossom said. "Give me the phone." Edward did. Blossom picked up. "Hello?"

"WHERE THE HELL ARE… Blossom?"

"Hi Eddy."

"Blossom? But… I… oh shit they made it. They're with you aren't they."

"If you mean the kids, then yes."

"Are they okay? Are you okay? Is anyone okay! Oh shit oh shit oh shit…"

"Eddy, please, don't panic," Blossom tried to calm him down. "The kids are fine. I'm fine, for now. I think we're going to start the fight soon."

"No their not," said Edward quickly, "because we're getting out of here!"

Blossom put a finger on his lips. "No, I have to go through with it. Okay Edward, Eddy?"

"To you really have to?" asked Eddy. Blossom nodded, although Eddy couldn't see it.

"Sonic has a plan. But for it to work I have to win. So I have to go throw with it."

"Sonic's back? Oh good. Did you talk to him?"

"Briefly. He was okay."

"Humm, alright."

"Yep," Blossom said. MJ had wondered over to the cell door during all this. She now sprinted back excitedly.

"There are some people coming!" she said.

"Okay Eddy, this is it," Blossom said. "Anything you want to say?"

There was a lot Eddy wanted to say. He wanted to tell Blossom how much she truly meant to her, that she was the entire world to him, his entire life. That without her, the sun wouldn't rise and he would suffer perpetual darkness. He wanted to tell all the romantic blah that he'd said when he proposed, but this time it would mean more, because people are expected to say that stuff when they propose. But he couldn't. How would it help? She didn't need to be thinking of anything else when she was fighting. Especially not him.

So he said, "I'll have the kettle on when you get home. Love you."

"Love you to," said Blossom, and she ended the call. However Eddy felt, it didn't matter, because he'd done his job. For Blossom had found hope simply in the fact that he'd used "when" instead of "if".

The cell door was opened. "Eat this!" MJ spat, and she opened up with some web lines from her wrists. She'd nearly completely wrapped up one of the guards by the time Blossom had stopped her.

"Don't worry MJ," she said, "I have to do this." MJ looked hurt, but she stopped. Blossom now assessed the Kryptonite arrivals. It was Hump-RE with two guards (one of which who was now webbed up.) Blossom stood her ground next to MJ, while Edward moved himself protectively in front of his sister. Hump-RE approached, smiling politely.

"Ah, are these your kids Blossom?" he asked. She nodded. Hump-RE looked at them. "What delightful kids," he said.

"Don't come any closer," said Edward. Hump-RE stopped. Blossom smiled slightly. Good boy, she thought. She also thought Edward knew.

"Don't misunderstand me," Hump-RE said. "I'm not here to harm you. I'm only a civil servant. I just follow my master's wishes. His current wish is for you to come to the arena for your trial by combat."

"What about my children?" asked Blossom. Hump-RE looked at them, genuinely concerned.

"They better come in the royal box with me," he said. "We wouldn't want Arm-OR to get his sick hands on them. Or his lordship, for that matter… Anyway, we can't waist anymore time. Your destiny awaits."

* * *

Okay, please review. By the way, if you enjoyed "Thirty Seconds of Cell and Freeza" in the last chapter, mg34 has started a story semi-based on it, called "Law and Order, HFIL Department." If you click on my homepage and go to my favourite author's section, you'll find his homepage and can get to it from there. If you didn't, don't worry, but I wouldn't be a good brother if I didn't promote his story, and I promise you it's funny. Okay, I'll try and update quicker next time. 


	13. GO!

I'm getting some odd hit readings on my chapters, so if you're confused you might want to make sure that you have read all the previous chapters.

**

* * *

12. Go!**

Hump-RE had led Blossom to a door, before heading up to the royal box to spectate. He took MJ and Edward with him, and Blossom tried to forget about them. They'd be okay, she hoped.

She stared straight ahead at the door. No point turning round; there were plenty of guards to prevent her escape. She tried to focus, for as soon as she stepped through those doors, she'd be fighting for everything she had. Everything except Brick of course, but could she really swap the kids for him? Could she?

That wasn't the point though. If she lost the entire earth would be enslaved. Everyone would loose everything. She shuddered, that was too awful to have on her conscious. Brick would have to wait, at least until she'd given this her best shot.

The door slide open slowly, and Blossom realised she was shaking. Nagging doubts were entering her head. He wasn't strong enough, she didn't have enough experience of this sort of fight. She was going to lose. Blossom breathed deeply and tried to suppress them. She'd never had these problems when she was a kid, or a teenager for that matter. But the last fifteen years had been different, something had been different.

And now, as she faced the inevitable, it was obvious. It wasn't the loss of Brick that had caused it, or the fear she had had of doing it again. It hadn't even been Sonic's belittling or her fear of her sisters finding out what she'd done. They had been causes of the problem, but not the problem it's self.

Ever since she'd killed Superman, she'd been running. Sonic had given her a head start by covering up, and she'd taken it. And never looked back, never challenged whatever was chasing her.

Now, she had no choice. She'd been caught. She had to either fight or die. Inconveniently, if she lost so would the world. But at least she didn't have a choice. Still, the pressure was on. Sonic was relying on her.

Or was he? Sonic never relied upon anyone. Surely he had a plan that would work even if she lost. It was more than likely. Maybe, he thought putting all this pressure on her would motivate her. Possibly. It might even be working…

The door finished opening, and Blossom wondered forward. The room was huge, the ceiling was towering ten stories above her, and it was about as wide as half a football pitch. The room was cylindrical however, with a shiny metal floor and concert walls that were coated in chrome. It was an impressive and intimidating sight, especially with the huge spotlights shining down from above. She shuddered mentally, but tried to look cool on the outside. She needed to look confident.

A further look showed that there was one glass viewing gallery in the wall. She supposed that was where Edward and MJ were. There were also lots of television cameras on the walls. So it was going to be broadcast live. She wondered idly which channel had won the bidding war to show it.

Another door opened, quickly with a smooth swishing sound. Blossom looked round. It was the Kryptonite Prince, dressed in bright white (that was almost blinding in the spotlights) with a green Superman esc symbol on the front. He strode in, brimming in confidence.

"Ready?" he said, with endless smugness. Blossom nodded slowly. "Good. I shall just do the formalities. Ahem, Blossom Panner, you are charged with the murder of Lord Kar-EL, aka Superman, and have been sentenced to trial by combat. If you survive you will have proved yourself innocent, but when you lose, you will have been found guilty and your planet will be taken as punishment." He smiled evilly. "Do you have any last things you want to say?"

"Yes, this has to be the stupidest method of trialling a suspect ever."

"I know," the Prince said, "I much prefer the simple "he's guilty, kill him," method, but this puts on a better show. Right!" he stretched him self out and assumed an attacking position. "FIGHT!"

Blossom did nothing. She didn't move a muscle. The Prince watched. "Come on then," he barked. Blossom just stared at him, in silent focus. The Prince laughed. "What's this, the great Blossom Utonium, (using her old name) doing nothing? I've read a lot about you in the short time we've been here, and I must say, I was fairly impressed. But now I see it was all just a load of press gable. I can't possibly see how you managed to defeat Superman, or where you more of a hero back then." Still nothing, Blossom didn't even twitch. The Prince scowled. "You know, delaying the inevitable won't help, do you want to die a coward?" Nothing. "Fine!" he said, "I'll start it!"

He jumped into the air, and shot over towards Blossom, at full pelt. He pulled his might arm back, and Blossom could see the muscles on it tense, ready to smash her face in. But she wasn't going to be flustered. It fact she didn't move until he was in striking distance.

The Prince swung his arm, Blossom leant sideways out of the way of it, and as he flew past, she leapt off her front foot, (with a bit of help from her flying powers,) and kicked him in the back with the other foot. As the extra momentum sent him careering into the far wall, Blossom put her hands one just above the other, palms facing, and moved them down to one side of her. She was following Goku's advice:

_Stay on the defensive, wait for the opening, and punish him for it._

But advice hadn't been the only purpose of the sayain's brief trip. He'd also taught her something.

A pink energy ball formed quickly between her hands, light shooting out for it, a she screamed: "Kamehameha!"

The blast fired, striking the point directly where the Prince was. It exploded, filling the room with pink light.

* * *

"OKAY, THERE UNDERWAY, LET'S GO LET'S GO!" Sonic shouted. The Puffs/Ruffs jumped up. Okay, one puff.

"Where the hell is Bubbles?" asked Buttercup. Before Sonic could blow a gasket, the aforementioned Puff zipped into the room.

"Here!" she said, her eyes seeming to glow more brightly then normal. "Let's get going! Grab on!"

They did, although Boomer initially to an inappropriate area. Bubbles laughed.

"Please Boomer, I need to concentrate!"

"Okay." He reluctantly moved his hand. Sonic could have killed him, but he needed Bubbles to teleport them there, and she might not help if he'd just attacked her husband. Also it would take too long.

Bubbles focused, and seemed to drift off. Then, she smiled, put her finger to her forehead, and they disappeared. But not before Buttercup, you'd been watching the fight on the television had said;

"Hey, what did Blossom just do?"

Good old Goku, thought Sonic. You could sort of let him off for being endlessly friendly. Still, there were other things to think about.

They appeared on the ship, pretty near the centre. Surrounded by lots of Kryptonite guards. However, some of them had barely got to "What the…" before the Hedgehog had piled into them. His companions were also quick to react, and by the time the Kryptonite's had regrouped:

"Hey, there are only four left!" said Boomer.

"Keep your head on Bro," said Butch, "they still look tough enough to take you!"

"Is that an implication that I'm not as strong as you?"

"Let me see… yes!"

"Oh shut up, you're both pathetic as far as I'm concerned." Buttercup was ready in full fight mode. "Shall we go prove it?"

They set about three of the four guards, who were still amazed that they were being attacked. Sonic was about to take the fourth one when a massive blue blast dealt with him. Sonic looked at Bubbles. Hadn't see been too weak to take Edward to the hospital last time she'd teleported five people, let alone blast a superhuman through three walls! Still, there was no time to be suspicious.

"Shall we help them?" Bubbles asked innocently, her blue eyes still burning. Sonic paused, and looked at the fight. Butch and Buttercup were thrashing away nicely, but the guards were hanging in there. Boomer had just been punched into a wall, but he still brought his legs up to meat his attacker under the chin, before attacking again. They looked okay, but a blue ball whizzing around in the mix might speed things up a bit.

"No, I'm do that," he said, "you, use your skill at langues to access a computer in a near by room and find a way to the prisons. Okay?"

"Got it!" Bubbles said, and Sonic fired himself into the fight. Bubbles opened the door into a nearby room. There were some non-warrior kryptonites cowering inside. They were still much stronger then any human, and could have challenged Bubbles in normal circumstances. But the Chaos Emerald was glowing in her back pocket, and she made short work of them. Now, to access the computer.

Unsurprisingly, it had a password. Bubbles swore; she had no idea how to hack. But suddenly, the word appeared in her head. _Fimble. _She typed it in, and it worked. Now…

Bubbles paused, and turned round. How had see known the password? She looked at the unconscious worker on the floor. Causally, she pointed her finger at her and though; How do I get to the prisons from hear?

A small, thin beam of blue light shot out of her finger, and wafted into his head. Suddenly, Bubbles knew the way. She smiled; what couldn't this emerald do? Or more to the point, what couldn't it allow her to do?

Out side in the corridor, Boomer finally knocked out his man, with a heavy blow to the gut. Butch looked at his watch.

"Thirty seconds after me," he mused. "Not too bad."

Buttercup, who'd had hers raised above her head, dropped him to the ground with an impressive clang. "Two minutes," she said smugly. The other two scowled, but Sonic interrupted.

"Okay, you can continue this latter," he said, "let's get going!"

"What's the rush?" asked Butch. "Those guys were easy! I bet Blossom's just pounding that arrogant Prince!"

Sonic sneered. "Unlikely. I know you lot are used to democracy and all that crap, where the ruler is week and pathetic, but at least semi-popular. But take it from me; the rest of the universe is mostly dictatorships. And either these dictators are popular or powerful. And especially when it comes to superhuman races, the leader is ALWAYS the most powerful. Sometimes by a large margin…"

* * *

Blossom looked at the smoke rising from where she'd fired the blast. Was that it? Had she won? There was no sign of him. This didn't please her. She waited for the smoke to clear further, expecting to see an injured, but determined figure emerge.

One didn't. Suddenly, Blossom realised that something was wrong, but she was too late. As she turned round, she was smashed in the head. He jaw rotated in her mouth, her eyes watered and her brain smacked against the side of her skull. Then the process repeated as she smashed into a wall.

She felt groggy and ill, nothing had ever hit her that hard before. But somehow, a thought got through her brain to her hands, and she caught the Princes foot, stopping it inches from its target, which was her face. He sneered down at her, as she looked up.

"Is that all you've got?" he asked. Blossom tried not to gape, or to panic, but it was hard, because she'd just unleashed the most powerful attack she'd ever done, and all she'd managed to do was slightly bruise his cheek.

* * *

Okay, please review. Even if you haven't before, have nothing to write, or want to criticise me. I allow anonymous reviews, so if you don't have an account, you can still say what you think. Oh, and feel free to make suggestions/ask questions. Thanks. 


	14. Fate of a Muderer

Okay, here we go. This is my first chapter over three thousand words, and it took about three hours to write, to I'd be most grateful if you'd spend just two minutes reviewing it at the end. Even if you can only think of bad things to say. Thanks, enjoy!

**14. Fate of a Murderer**

Blossom trust herself out from under the Prince's leg and slid across the smooth floor, back into the middle of the room. She needed to stay in space, it would be more difficult to defend her self it she was backed up against a wall.

The Prince took his time turning round. He now looked even more confident then when the fight had started. Maybe he knew how much energy Blossom had used in that earlier attack. Blossom tried to stay focus, her chance would come.

The Prince attacked again, but this time he didn't over commit himself. Blossom was forced to Block the punch, and it stun her arms. The Prince was quite happy to take swings at Blossom calmly, while the Puff backed off, searching for an opening. Any opening!

Soon Blossom found herself up against another wall, but due to the circular nature of the room, she was able to swing round and move along it. The Prince's attacks were gradually building up in speed and strength, Blossom's arms and legs having to move equally fast to block. Eventually, he was concentrating so hard that Blossom saw a chance. She lazar eye zapped him in the face, putting him of balance, and giving her the opportunity to take a swing of her own. Blossom wasn't the only one who could doge however, and she only succeeded in denting the wall, and leaving her self open. The Prince kicked her in the leg, and then brought both his hands down on the top of her head, smashing her chin into his raised knee, before flicking the leg out and sending her flying into the air. He waited for her to smash back down to earth again, so was only semi-disappointed.

"Of course you can fly," he murmured, "silly me."

Up above, Blossom tried to hide her pain. She was normally good at this, but mostly it was mental pain, not physical. She was sure that she'd cracked a few ribs, she was bleeding from her chin, and was heavily winded.

Then, she realised something. The tactic wasn't going to work, because she couldn't hurt him enough to rely on a few opportunities. Her hands were going to brake if she did much more blocking anyway. Form now on, she'd have to attack, she needed to wear him down with lots of small injuries.

The Prince charged up to her, so Blossom flew out the way, firing lots of small energy balls at him as she did. They didn't bother him much, but they kept him distracted, as Blossom headed higher and higher. Eventually, just as the Prince was catching up, Blossom grabbed one of the huge spotlights and hurled it down on to him. He couldn't avoid it, but in a shower of glass smashed through it. Blossom had been out of his sight for a moment though, and she hurtled down form just behind him, landing a blow foot on the back of his neck. He was hit downwards, and Blossom followed feet first, stamping on his shoulders repeatedly, intending to smash him into the floor.

The Prince was never worried. He even had time to decide which foot he was going to grab, before hurling her away parallel to the floor, and sending Blossom crunching front first against a wall. Blossom prepared for the counter attack, but it never came. The Prince just smiled calmly at her, hovering in the centre of the room.

"Come on Blossom, can't you see you can not win. Perhaps you should make this less painful for yourself? I can end it without you suffering a thing, if you let me."

Blossom spat blood, and charged again. The Prince scowled.

"Not very talkative, are we," he said, as he smashed Blossom face, sending her hurtling away again. She managed to land on her feet, and Blossom swung her hands up, and fired an energy blast up towards him. The prince produced his own, and the two clashed in the middle, lighting the room up once more. It quickly became clear who was winning; the Kryptonite beam far outstripped the Puff's. But Blossom didn't need to win the energy duel.

The Prince watched, feeling very pleased with himself, as his blast exploded as it hit the floor where Blossom was. Or had been. The puff managed to swing in behind the surprised Kryptonite, and kick him as hard as she could in the back. The vibrations of the impact rattled up her leg all the way to the brain, and her toes stung from the force of it. Yet the Prince barely blinked. He turned round slowly, and Blossom started shaking. I had just struck he in the face, she had absolutely no chance of winning. And she had even less chance once the Prince's narrow lazar eye blasts had gone straight through her shoulder.

As she grabbed the wound, (the same one that she'd been shot in by Nack) she slumped towards the ground. The Prince flew over and grabbed her by the throat. He smiled grimly.

"I think that qualifies as a warm up," he said. And then Blossom felt new levels of pain.

* * *

"Shouldn't we be going to the command bridge rather then the Prisons," asked Butch as the Puffs and Ruffs followed Sonic through the dank passageways to the cells. "I mean, isn't the plan…" 

"I know the plan!" Sonic said huffily, "but I don't think the five of us charging onto the bridge is going to be subtle enough. It has to happen without anyone noticing."

"Stealthily?" said Buttercup. "He's got a point there; I used to hate it when Blossom made us do that."

"So who is going to the Bridge," asked Boomer. Sonic smiled to himself.

"They're just in here," he said, as they reached a cell door. He stood aside so Butch could kick it open. That having been achieved, they entered the dark room slowly. Once the eyes had adjusted to the light however, it was clear to see what Sonic meant.

"DAD!" cried Sonia.

"Sonic, I knew you'd be back," said Tails.

"Took you long enough," grumbled Knuckles. Shadow said nothing. The four of them were chained to walls, just like Sonic and Blossom had been earlier.

"Hia red, it's good to see you too," said Sonic cheerfully, (as he always did when he had the upper hand over Knuckles.) "Come on guys," he said to his earthling companions, "don't just stand there, free the four of them!"

They did so. "Even Shadow?" asked Boomer just in case. Sonic only nodded briefly, because he was busy. As soon as Sonia had been released by Bubbles, she'd ran over to her father, and Sonic was now occupied in an activity that he hadn't partaken in for almost sixteen (earth) years; hugging his daughter. Sonia sniffed quietly.

"I've missed you Dad," she whispered. Sonic chuckled.

"I've missed you to," he said. Then he looked round (still hugging Sonia.) "Right," he said authoritatively, "I need to have a word with the old guys… and Shadow, so if you Puffy things want to go outside and guard the cell, that would be great. I suspect a welcoming comity will be here soon, so you won't be board for long.

They left, and Sonic turned his concentration back to his old friends.

"Okay, err… Tails, do you think you can do something very important for me?"

"Sure I can!"

"Course you can little bro. I want you to take Sonia and go up to the bridge through the air vents. Once there, everyone will be distracted by the fight me and the puffs will have started, so you can sneak up to the ship's computer, and I want you to type in these instructions…"

* * *

Outside, Buttercup was listening through the door. 

"We're going to get to cause a distraction!" she said excitedly.

"Great!" said Butch, rubbing his hands together. "Lots of violence purely for the sake of it! Just my kind of fight."

"Hang on a minute," Boomer came running back from round the corner, "we've got company."

"How many?" asked Butch, brandishing his fists.

"Only one, but he looks really mean," Boomer said. Butch laughed.

"Do you want him or shall I," he asked Buttercup.

"If any of you little pipsqueaks can take me it will be a major surprise!" said Arm-OR as he rounded the corner. "I reckon I can take all four of you, seeing as my lord is having such an easy time with your sister!"

"Blossom?" said Bubbles, "You'll pay for this!"

"Hey, I was about to say that!" said Buttercup, but Bubbles ignored her completely. Her Blue eyes blazing, she stepped forward and fired a huge blast from her hands that went careering down the corridor toward him, ripping panels off the walls as it went. Arm-OR, with an angry roar punched it as hard as he could, sending the beam flying straight back towards them.

"Bubbles, you idiot!" shouted Buttercup as they spilt in avoidance, but Arm-Or was very quickly among them. He elbowed Butch in the face, sending him through a wall, and then smashed Boomer in the chest, winding the Ruff so badly that he lost consciousness. Arm-OR then swung a punch at Bubbles, but the Chaos Emerald strengthened blue puff managed to catch the punch in her hand, and with an evil glare, she began to crush it.

Arm-OR was caught off guard at the amount of pain being dealt out to him by the weakest looking of all the puffs, and as he tried to free his hand, Buttercup took the chance to wap him round the back of the head, repeatedly. Unable to escape, but doing well to keep his cool, the huge Kryptonite warrior raised a foot and kicked Bubbles hard in the side, at about the point where her pocket was.

The Chaos Emerald inside shattered and Bubbles suddenly yelped in pain, as bits of it dug into her leg. The energy of it exploded over her body, sending her writhing in pain, as blue blots crackled across her body, burning her skin. Now free of Bubbles' grip, Arm-OR swung round to smash Buttercup, but the green puff dogged and backed away, taking a moment to look at her agony stucken sister. Arm-OR paused, and laughed.

"Yes," he said menacingly, "I like this. Like your sister, yet you too haven't lost your shape slightly through child birth. I think I'll take you two as reward once we've enslaved this planet."

"YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO TOUCH HER YOU SICK BASTARD!" screamed Butch, as he charged back in, blood flying from his face. Arm-OR calmly smashed him into the ceiling, and then to the floor. Buttercup screamed aggressively and charged him her self, but he effortlessly stuck out a hand and grabbed her by the throat. He smiled as he slowly choked her.

"Just something for you to think about," he said quietly, "by lord the Prince is at least twice as strong as me…"

* * *

"SHE CAN'T LOOSE!" screamed MJ desperately through the glass. "SHE HAS TO WIN!" 

"Oh mum…" Edward mumbled as he watching the battering taking place below, "I do wish you weren't watching MJ."

"Shit watching!" said MJ, misusing one of those words she wasn't meant to know, "we have to help her!"

Edward sighed. "You may be right," he said. "There have to be some things I'm willing to use my Powers for, and helping mum is top of the list!"

"I wouldn't do that if I was you," said Hump-RE from the desk at the back of the box, not even looking up from his paperwork.

"Why, are you going to stop us?" MJ said menacingly, acid dribbling from her mouth and her muscles beginning to throb as her Spider-side started to build up in her mind. Hump-RE turned round.

"Of course not," he said proudly, "I'm a civil servant, not a mindless thug. I was educated at the universes top university, and came away with an honours in classics. I'm not going to use force to stop you. But I will remind you that if you intervene on your mother's behalf, she will automatically forfeit and his lordship will have the right to bring the entire arm down on her." He returned to his paperwork. Edward scowled.

"How can you be so arrogant as to do paperwork at a time like this?" he shouted, "are you so sure of your master's success that you won't even watch."

"The fight isn't important," Hump-RE said calmly.

"What!"

"The outcome isn't going to affect the work I do tomorrow, or the day after."

"Even if the Prince looses?"

"Even then."

MJ turned away from the fight momentarily. "But I thought it was the job of a civil…whatsitis to carry out his masters wishes?"

"No, the job of a civil servant is to run the country _despite _his master's wishes. How else do you think some loud mouthed berk can win an election and suddenly know how to run the economy? Sure, his lordship can have his little publicity triumph, and we can enslave all the people from your planet, but in reality, it will make very little difference to the paperwork I have to fill in. So win or lose, it doesn't affect me."

Edward and MJ shrugged, and returned their attention to the fight.

* * *

Blossom was trying to get back into this. She was trying to get angry. That was how she'd beaten Superman and Sonic had said that angry Puff's were more powerful. It made sense really; Buttercup was the angriest and also the strongest puff, while Bubbles had undergone massive increases in strength the times when she'd lost her temper (but that had been when they were young.) Blossom supposed the reason for this was the fact that Chaos Energy was naturally evil. 

However, as she was battered around the room like a punching bag, she just couldn't do it. She couldn't get angry; heck, she could barely register a coherent thought. She just focused on trying to stay focused on something, trying to remain in the world of the living. It was hard. She needed a miracle.

Eventually, however, the beatings stopped. Blossom found her self down on all fours, no longer under attack. She knelt up, and started vomiting blood and bile. Her hair was torn and soaked in blood too, while her entire bruised body ached.

The Prince leant down to her height, and spoke gently into her ear. "Tell me," he asked, not even sounding out of breath, "how many hours of fight training have you done in the last… say, ten years?"

Blossom panted in agony, but she decided to answer the question. "None," she said.

"I see." He stretched satisfied. "I do four hours a day," he continued, "and you still put on a good show against me. Pretty impressive, for an ammeter." Now he sat down beside her. "Imagine, if you will, how close you could have come to beating me if you were a professional? I dare say we'd only just have completed the warm up phase now, and would be having a brief belittling session, before unleashing our true power on each other, ahe?"

Blossom said nothing, she was too tired. The Prince smiled, slightly evilly. "You've done a good job today, well enough in fact, for me to offer you one. Now before you turn it down, think about it. I will need someone to help communicate with the local slaves, and to help us keep the right balance of fear and satisfaction in there lives to save us the messy jobs of putting down a slave rebellion every other weak. If you where to help us with it, I could offer you anything! You could have the time to train, to become the powerful warrior you should be." He leaned in closer. "I could protect your family. You're sisters could continue there lives, you're husband would be safe from a live of misery, and your precious kids would be able to do what ever they wanted, and when they grow up, have anybody they wanted, as apposed to a life of suffering and torment. Besides, what do you owe the people down there? Yesterday they were trying to execute you!"

"And you weren't," spat Blossom.

"Consider it more of an extreme job interview," said the Prince. "Come on Blossom, I'm offering you you're life back, with bonuses. And all I require from you is a lifetime of loyal service, and the location of the Hedgehog that you helped escape. Now have a good rational think about it, and tell me where he is."

Blossom thought, breathing deeply to get as much air to her battered brain as possible. Could she really do it? Betray her own planet? Betray Sonic, again? But on the other hand, was it selfish of her to doom her family, all whom she loved, to a life of misery because she wanted to die a hero? She racked her brains. Which way was the easy way out? Was the easy way necessarily the wrong way?

Eventually, she came to a decision.

"I'll tell you where Sonic is," she said. The Prince smiled.

"Clever girl. Where?"

"He's in the space between your ears, because there is an awful lot of space for him."

The Prince sighed. "Fool," he said simply, and he kicked the knelt over Puff in the face, sending her barrelling away. Blossom tried to keep breathing, but it was hard. The Prince marched over to her, Blossom tried to get away, but she couldn't stand, let alone fly. He scooped her up by her battle torn clothes, and dragged her to the wall, where he opened a shoot in the side. Down it, Blossom could see a huge rotating fan blade, but she was too weak to resist.

"This is what we do with the likes of you!" the Prince scowled, and he throw Blossom into it. As she fell, she heard a cry of "MUM!" and saw a last-ditch web line narrowly miss her feet – and saving her – but it couldn't stop her falling away.

Keep fighting kids, fight to the end, she thought, as she tumbled helplessly towardsher end.

* * *

Okay, please Review. Thanks! 


	15. From Bad to Worse

Right, here is the next chapter, sorry that it's a bit late and shorter than normal, but I'm not feeling very well at the moment. Anyway, It gets me to a suitable cliff-hanger.

**

* * *

15. From Bad To Worse**

Edward had been leaning on the glass when MJ had smashed through it in a desperate attempt to save their Mum. She'd given almost no warning though, and as Edward didn't know how to fly he'd fallen all the way to the fall. Slowly, he picked himself off his face.

MJ was staring at the hole in the wall that Blossom had just disappeared through. Her face was a perfect image of horror and disbelief. Her mouth hung open and her two fanged teeth wobbled sacredly. In comparison, the Prince looked rather pleased with himself.

"It's over!" he declared. "The defendant is guilty, and we shall take the world as punishment!"

MJ feel to her knees. "Mum…" she sniffled. Tears welled up in her eyes. Edward staged to his feet (ignoring the blood draining from his face) and ran over to her.

"It's okay MJ," he said, hugging her from behind. "It'll be okay…"

"NO IT WON'T, SHE'S DEAD!" MJ wailed suddenly, breaking down in a fit of tears. Edward held her tightly, but was also aware that it wasn't just blood dripping from his face. He tried to hold back the tears, if he broke too…

The Prince clicked his fingers and wondered slowly towards the two kids.

"You know," he said snidely, "I gave her a chance, an opportunity to save herself, and you two. But she turned it down. She thought that those pathetic fools down below where more important then you two. Her own kids." He smiled. "I bet that hurts. Really, really hurts."

Anything could have happened next. Edward thought that he would have just backed away, taking MJ with him, before braking into full "running away" mode. But instead, he left MJ staring at the floor and hurled himself at the Prince, swinging a punch at him with ever once of strength he could muster.

The Prince calmly caught the punch, and held the young kid up, letting him dangle from his own hand. Then he began to crush. Edwards face went pale, and he screamed in agony as he writhed helplessly. The Prince smiled.

"You're a fool," he said calmly, "just like your mother. And just like her, you will pay for it!" He looked at MJ, how was still staring at the floor desolately. "Now why couldn't you be like your sister, and except your fate?" he asked.

MJ's head rose up slowly. The crying had stopped, and her eyes now burned with rage. But it wasn't a humane rage, or even a puff rage. It was pure spider rage.

"YOU KILLED HER!" a twisted voice shrieked – a voice Edward hadn't heard since MJ had been out of control (Tangled Web) – and she threw her self at the Prince, her mouth dripping acid and the sanity gone from her eyes. The Prince calmly raised his other had to stop it, but this was a huge mistake as MJ, weaving through the air in a twisted yet graceful way, simply sunk her fangs into it.

The Prince screamed in agony, as the fangs pierced straight through his hand. He dropped Edward, how ignored is own mangled fingers and looked at MJ. She was gnawing away at her prey delightedly, with a strange look of satisfaction on her face. The Prince brought his now free hand up to smash down on MJ, but only succeeded in hitting himself, as MJ had now moved up his arm. He tried again, but Edward jumped on to his shoulder, and blew on the arm, freezing it in place. This only lasted for a moment, but as anyone who's trapped their fingers in a door on a cold day know, it meant it hurt a lot more when Edward hit him.

The Prince tried to ignore the irritating attacks of Blossom's son, because he was fully occupied trying to stop her daughter eating him. So Edward used this distraction to trip him up. As he fell, the spider instincts in MJ took over, and she dived mouth first for the throat, to administer a killing blow. But her victim had now finally got a free hand, and he smashed MJ across her flight path before Edward could do anything to stop it. It was a good hit, right on the side of the head, and MJ tumbled away, completely unconscious. Edward was looking at his defeated sister for a moment too long, because the Prince suddenly had him around the neck. His arm was in a very bad state, and he wasn't very happy about it.

"Right you freak!" he hissed at him, "I was going to do this the other way round," he picked up MJ by her neck, "but since she's knocked out I'll have to do it this way. I'm going to crush both your necks, but I'll crush hers faster then yours, so the last thing you see it your precious sister dying! And, thanks to the damage she did to my arm, that's going to take a very long and painful time!"

* * *

Sonic had finished explaining his plan. Tails nodded.

"I won't let you down Sonic," he said determinedly. "I'll go to the bridge and do that for you."

"Great, I new I could rely on you," Sonic said. Tails nodded, trying to look sort of tough, but he quickly gave up, and flew up to the air vent in the corner of the cell. The removed the guard, but Knuckles grabbed his foot before the fox could go.

"You're not seriously going there alone?" he asked, looking accusingly at Sonic.

"Of course not, Sonia's going to."

"Oh please," spat Knuckles. "I'm still legally responsible for her Sonic, so I'm going to."

"Yes I knew that," the blue Hedgehog said coolly. Knuckles blinked.

"Then why didn't you tell me the plan?"

"Because I didn't think you liked taking orders from people, especially me."

"I'm very good at taking orders!" growled Knuckles. This was of course a lie, but Knuckles wasn't going to let that get in the way of him arguing with Sonic.

"Alright," said the Hedgehog, "Prove it. I want you to follow all of Tails orders during this mission!"

"Fine!"

"You can start by letting go of my leg," Tails said. Knuckles did, with an I-told-you-so look on his face. Sonic chuckled.

"Maybe Shadow can go with you and adjudicate?" he said without even blinking. The up-until-now silent black Hedgehog suddenly appeared inches away from Sonic's face, staring straight in his eyes menacingly.

"You may think that you're back in charge Sonic," he hissed quietly, "and I will go on this mission for you, but I just want to make it clear that I still see you for what you really are, a murderer who is going to pay for it when we get back home!"

"What ever makes you happy Shadow. Now get out of here, it sounds like they've nearly finished outside."

Shadow turned, and he joined Tails and Knuckles in climbing into the air vent. Sonia however hesitated. Sonic looked at her.

"Go on then," he said, but she shook her head.

"I'm not leaving you Dad," she said. Sonic paused.

"She'll catch you guys up," he called to the vent. Tails responded with an okay, and they clattered off. Sonic turned to Sonia.

"It'll be okay," he said. "You go with them; I need you to do that for me. I'm going to cause a distraction, so the safest place to be is with Knuckles and co."

"But," Sonia blurted, "I don't want to leave you Dad. I don't want to be somewhere else if anything happens. I want to fight with you!"

"We'll get chances to do that later," he said. "And causing a diversion shouldn't cause me any problems. These guys are nothing on Robotnik, and I've got the Puffs to protect me…"

The door of the cell we flung open. "Well you took your time finishing those guards off!" Sonic said without turning round. But Sonia was jabbering helplessly. And the voice which responded was not one of the Puffs, or Ruffs.

"Sorry about the delay," growled Arm-OR, Buttercup firmly beaten on the floor behind him, "but at least I managed to defeat YOUR guards in less time then it took my lord to kill Blossom!"

Sonic turned round slowly. Oh shit…

* * *

Okay, please review. Thanks. 


	16. The Stronger Side of Chaos Energy

**16. The Stronger side of Chaos Energy**

Brick was sat on a light fitting that stuck out from the wall of the disposal shoot. The huge rotating fan wasn't far below him, so he knew he had to work fast. Also, he wished that he'd caught Blossom somewhere more convenient then round her ankle.

"Blossom, wake up," he hissed desperately. He didn't have long left. "Blossom! Those special moments, like you're daughters first date, or you're son's first home run…"

"Getting a bit American aren't we?"

"Fine, your son's first visit to a Champion's League match, Happy? Now where was I… oh yes, diamond wedding anniversary etc. I've missed all these things, but if I have the power to prevent you from missing then, wouldn't it be selfish not to, just for my own benefit? I'm supposed to love you."

Blossom sniffed. "I know you do," she said. "But how are you helping me?"

"Oh, umm, Roland, magic bottle, gift from death, 3 minutes, babysitting a teething child for a week while he goes to watch a football match with his Brazilian friend… It's a long story, quite boring."

"You're remarkably calm about this," Blossom said.

"Am I? Would it make things less weird for you it I was running around screaming? But anyway, I haven't got long, and you have a fight to win!"

Blossom laughed ironically. "Whatish not to, just for my own benefit? I'm supposed to love you."

Blossom sniffed. "I know you do," she said. "But how are you helping me?"

"Oh, umm, Roland, magic bottle, gift from death, 3 minutes, babysitting a teething child for a week while he goes to watch a football match with his Brazilian friend… It's a long story, quite boring."

"You're remarkably calm about this," Blossom said.

"Am I? Would it make things less weird for you it I was running around screaming? But anyway, I haven't got long, and you have a fight to win!"

Blossom laughed ironically. "What chance do I have," she said miserably, "he's far stronger than me!" Brick nodded, and then dew a small bottle out of his pocket, with some chemical X in it.

"When I got my powers back off Him, I didn't reabsorb them because I had a feeling I might need them." He took the lid off, and tipped it towards Blossom's mouth. "Just try to return them once you've finished."

The cool Black liquid flowed down Blossom's throat, and she gulped it down. Suddenly, she felt an explosion of power, and all her wounds healed. She leapt upwards, glowing with an aura of red energy. Everything felt better, she felt stronger, faster and more alert. All her senses were buzzing. She hovered in the air in front of Brick.

"That'll help," she said, still feeling a little strange, "but he's far more then twice as powerful as me!"

"You'll find a way to make up the difference," Brick said confidently. "And I'll be with you throughout," he said, pointing at the red aura. Blossom smiled, and reached her hand out to him. They touched for the briefest of moments, and then Brick vanished; his time was up, but regardless, Blossom whispered:

"I love you."

* * *

Eddy couldn't bring himself to watch the fight. So he sat, staring at the ceiling, hoping that it would he over soon. He tried to think about unimportant, unemotional things, like sport, politics, art. But his mind helplessly slipped back to Blossom; their first meeting, their first kiss, their wedding day, the first time they'd had sex (yes, in that order – Blossom hadn't been too up for it before due to memories of Brick, and this had been fine with Eddy because while he was sure his technique was quite good, he hadn't wanted to chance it), the births of Edward and MJ. He wondered if he'd see any of them again.

Suddenly, he sat up, and slammed his head into a pillow. This was crazy! If he wasn't watching the fight, he shouldn't think about it! There had to be something he could do to take his mind off it.Idealy Somthing that would help the situation too.Maybe….

* * *

Sonic glanced around. Buttercup was badly hurt; she wasn't going to be any help this fight. He supposed the others would be in a similar condition. He looked at the huge hulk that was Arm-OR, filling the doorway. Then he looked at Sonia.

"I'll distract him, you go for the vent."

"But…"

"Do it! Please." Sonic then turned to Arm-OR. "Gee, I bet you haven't been this happy since the last time you ate an entire tub of ice cream," he said.

Arm-OR sneered. "I can assure you, this is all muscle," he said gruffly. "Anyway, you can make all the cheap cracks you want, Blossom is dead, and your planet is doomed!"  
"It's not my planet."

"Then why do you fight for it?"

"It's my job and I enjoy it. Much better then spending your time working tirelessly for some idiot Prince, don't you think?"

"I have great job satisfaction," said Arm-OR. "Let me demonstrate my favourite part!" He charged Sonic, who as quick as a flash, dogged away, leaving the kryptonite to punch thin air.

"Missing me? I don't see why you enjoy that so much," the hedgehog gloated. Arm-OR growled, and lunged again. Sonic ducked past him and kicked him in the back. This achieved absolutely nothing, except making Arm-OR angry. He whirled round, but Sonic was too quick, and the pattern repeated itself.

Come on Sonia, thought Sonic as he ducked and weaved, get out of here!

The pink hedgehog finally made a beeline for the vent. The relief of this distracted Sonic momentarily, and he tripped on Buttercup's arm, allowing Arm-OR to hit him. He flew across the floor and smashed through a wall and he slammed into another wall the far side of the corridor, right next to Bubbles. She wasn't exactly beaten, just dazed and emitting a lot of chaos energy. The blue sparks flashed around Sonic alarmingly. He hated Chaos energy, as it was a source of great evil that had ruined his life, but he wasn't thinking about that now. He only had two thoughts on his mind.

1) How much pain he was in and 2) The act that Arm-OR had grabbed Sonia.

The Kryptonite warrior laughed. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't snap her neck," he said. Sonic could feel the chaos energy from Bubbles swirling dangerously around him, but he didn't really care. There was no way he was going to loose her again.

"Put her down, or you'll regret it," he said dangerously.

"Pardon," laughed Arm-OR, "I don't think so!" he punched Sonia in the chest to prove his point.

"PUT MY DAUGHTER DOWN!" screamed Sonic in pure rage. The Chaos energy surged around him, his eyes glowed red, his spikes went jagged and his teeth became sharp. Finally, in a blinding of yellow, Sonic disappeared. Arm-OR tried to shield his eyes from the light, but as he did, something shot out of it and struck him hard in the jaw. So hard in fact that he was sent flying into the wall, and dropped Sonia. He looked up furiously.

"You're going to pay for that you crazy Hedgehog! Don't you want your daughter to die painlessly?" But he was aware that he wasn't talking to a blue Hedgehog anymore. Sonic didn't look that evil for one thing.

"My daughter?" said the bright yellow creature that throbbed with energy in front of him, "I don't recall Sonia being Super Sonic's daughter. But you are his enemy, and I'm going to make you suffer!"

* * *

The Prince watched with glee as MJ went paler and paler. There wasn't much time for her left now. If it wasn't for the terrible state of his arm, he probably would have put MJ out of her misery by breaking her neck now. But she had to pay for the damage she'd done, and he had the time. Sure, Edward was struggling, but this was merely out of desperation.

"It's over!" he gloated to the poor kid, who had no air to respond. Hum, thought the Prince, he was going to die before his sister. Must be a lot weaker than her. Still, might as well end it now…

An energy blast hit his hand, and he dropped Edward in surprise. Looking up, he saw Blossom. "Care to go to extra time?" she asked confidently. The Prince scowled, briefly confused. Then he recovered.

"I don't care how you survived," he snapped, "or that you seem to be more powerful for some reason. But I am glad that you've given me a chance to show you what you chose. Death for your family!" he tightened his grip on MJ. Blossom focused, energy burning off her.

"Put her down, or you'll regret it," she said dangerously.

"Pardon," laughed Arm-OR, "I really don't think so!" he punched MJ in the chest to prove his point.

Blossom saw her chance. It was a small one, but a very defiant chance. If she could get angry, she would be stronger, maybe even strong enough with the help of Brick's powers. And in front of her she had the perfect motivation.

"PUT MY DAUGHTER DOWN!" she screamed in pure rage – rage that she hadn't felt since she'd killed Superman. The Chaos energy from Brick surged around her, her eyes glowed red, her hair flared wildly outwards, her muscles bulged and her teeth became sharp and jagged. Then, in a flash of yellow, she disappeared. The Prince shielded his eyes and braced himself for impact. It never came, but when he opened his eyes, he was missing MJ.

Blossom was holding her up by her hair, like some sort of trophy. Well it looked like Blossom, except that her eyes where red, her hair that turned golden, and her clothes where now yellow where they had once been pink. Also of cause, she looked a lot stronger and more powerful, and evil.

The Prince scowled. "I don't know what just happened Blossom, but it won't help you!"

'Blossom' laughed. "Don't underestimate me," she said bitterly, as she gently tossed MJ away (a scared Edward caught her). "I am no longer the weak fool that you started against, and if you don't realise that it will be you're last and most painful mistake!"

Somewhere inside Blossom, a part of her now understood some things. She understood why Sonic had tried to hide the Chaos Emerald from them in the vaults. She understood how she'd killed Superman so easily. And she understood that Chaos energy WAS pure evil. The only problem was that the part currently controlling her already knew all this…

* * *

Okay, please review, and if you are confused, feel free to ask questions. Thanks. 


	17. Who are the Real Bad Guys?

**17. Who are the Real Bad Guys?**

Back in the vents, Tails, Knuckles and Shadow had reached the spaceships command centre. The three of them peered through the grill. Tails blinked.

"There's only one person here," he whispered, "Sonic's distraction must be working!"

"Should be," said Knuckles, "he always does like being the centre of attention."

"Humm," Shadow looked around. "I don't think there are many guards around at all. If you think that the Kryptonities must have men guarding every nuke on earth – since they are the only weapons that the humans have that can harm them – so there can't be many people left on the ship."

"Okay," said Tails, "so we can probably take this guy out with out raising too many alarms?"

"Your in charge," reminded Knuckles. Tails took a deep breath.

"Right, ATTACK!"

The poor maintenance worker had barley looked up when he was hit by Shadow on the top of the head. This sent him staggering forward into Knuckle's fist, which was coming in the other direction at high speed. All it needed after that was for Tails to trip him from behind, and as he hit the floor, he was unconscious. Tails strode over to the control panel.

"Right," he said, "I'm going to send that message Sonic told me to send, while you two look out for more guards."

"You're the boss," said Knuckles cheerfully, "for as long as it takes me to win the bet."

"Hey, Knuckles," Shadow gestured for the echidna to come over and have a look at a different display. "There's a lot of Chaos Energy coming from two points of this ship! Do you think they could be your emeralds?"

Knuckles studied it carefully and then shook his head. "The signature pattern is all wrong," he said. Then he paused, and looked up, concerned. "That last time I saw a pattern like this was when Sonic last turned into Super Sonic!"

Shadow jumped. "You mean that crazy unstoppable Chaos energy monster that just likes destroying things?"

Knuckles nodded. "It only happens if he gets really angry or exposed to too much Chaos Energy. I hope it's the former, because then the affect is shorter."

"Really?"

"Yep. Only lasts until he's destroyed what ever is pissing him off."

Shadow paused, and looked down at the display again. "If it is Super Sonic," he said nervously, "then why are there two sources?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Let's hope we don't find out."

Tails ran over. "Okay, I've sent the message. If Sonic's right, all the Kryptonite Soldiers on earth will be now following "orders" and heading for the Grand Canyon."

"Great, let's get going," said Knuckles. He took a few steps before remembering something. "If those are your orders Tails," he added. Tails laughed.

"Okay, I think we… err, head for our ship. It should still be in the docking bay."

"What about Sonic and Sonia?"

"I'm sure they'll catch us up," said Shadow before Tails could reply, "Sonic always looks after himself." (Of course he didn't mean that in a nice way.)

"Great," said Tails, "too the ven…"

The doors to the bridge were rammed open and they were confronted by ten Kryptonite guards. One of them used his lazar eye beams to weld the vent shut before they could escape. The three animals paused.

"Of course there is always the 'B' plan," said Tails, as Knuckles brandished his fists.

* * *

Sonia sat up. Her head was thumping, she'd hit it had when Arm-OR had dropped her. As this fact occurred to her, she realised that the professional torturer was probably still around. She glanced around fearfully, looking to see if she could spot him before she spotted her. 

It didn't take long; Arm-OR was in the centre of what had been the room (it was missing a few walls now) thrashing wildly at a yellow blur. He was paying no attention at all to Sonia. She wondered briefly where her dad was, and why Arm-OR was attacking thin air. She received both answers at once when the blur suddenly stopped and swung a fist towards Arm-OR, sending him flying towards Sonia.

She just about scrambled out of the way, which turned out to be very important, since the dent Arm-OR made in the solid wall implied that Sonia would be dead if she'd been in the way. This seemed to disappoint Super Sonic.

"Dam, nearly made a double," he said. Arm-OR, bruised and bleeding from his back slightly jumped staggered up, absolutely livid.

"You can't be that strong!" he growled.

"I'm afraid I can," Super Sonic responded, his red eyes gleaming evilly. "You may think you tough because you can beat up two girls and their husbands, but you had trouble with the blue girl didn't you. She crushed your hand!"

"Yeah, but she only took one hit!"

"You got lucky," Super Sonic scoffed. "Her power supply was exposed and you hit it. My power supply, however, comes from inside me," he smiled, as yellow energy flicked off him, "and I bet you couldn't hurt it even with a free hit!"

"We'll see about that!" screamed Arm-OR, and he charged Super Sonic at full speed, who – to Sonia's amazement – just stood there. He didn't move a muscle, until Arm-OR hit him. Then he flexed his face into a smile, as the Kryptonite gapped at the lack of any impression from his hit. "But… I… you're so small and weak," he stuttered again, "how can you be this strong?"

"Chaos Energy can do almost anything," Super Sonic laughed. Then he grabbed Arm-OR's hand, and smashed him up and down between the ceiling and the floor. Soon, Arm-OR was being flung around so fast, that to Sonia, he was just a blur. Suddenly, Super Sonic got board, and let go. Arm-OR cannoned away and ricocheted off the ceiling and the floor on his way to landing at Sonia's feet. The once mighty warrior was now a shrivelling, badly beaten mess. He looked up to Sonia, who saw to her surprise not the normal look of hate and supreme confidence, but a look of pure fear.

"Please, help me," he begged, which quite took Sonia aback. "He's crazy; he's going to kill us all…" Super Sonic smashed onto his back, crunching it with his feet.

"Don't bother the kid," he sniggered, as he raised a small put vibrant energy ball in his hand, "you should spend this time preparing your speech for the man upstairs!"

"Wait," Sonia blurted. Super Sonic stopped, and he looked round at her slowly, his eyes burning with hate.

"What?" he asked gently. Sonia hesitated.

"There's no need to kill him," she stuttered. "I… I think perhaps that he's learned his lesson."

"But he's an evil man," said Super Sonic harshly, "he deserves to be killed!"

"No, you murdering him makes you as bad as him," Sonia pleaded. "And I don't want to see my dad kill anyone!"

Super Sonic's eyes softened. He took a step closer to Sonia, and said gently; "So, you don't want me to kill him, because I'm your father, and you believe I'm better than that?" Sonia nodded. "I'm touched," said Super Sonic, "but there's one thing you are forgetting."

"What?" asked Sonia.

"Sonic's your father, not me!" and with that, he swung back round, and blasted Arm-OR into oblivion. Sonia gasped, and shielded her eyes from the glowing light. But through the dust and general chaos, she heard Super Sonic saying, "I'll be back for you one day…"

When it had all cleared, Sonia looked back round again. The yellow demon had gone, and standing there instead was Sonic. He looked over at her.

"Sonia, are you all right?"

She recovered her balance, and made her way across. "DAD!" she said, "what happened?" Sonic looked around.

"I'll say that Super Sonic happened," he scratched his head, and took a brief look at Arm-OR's fried, lifeless body, before turning away. "Did anyone else get hurt?" he asked, "I can't really remember what happens when I'm Super Sonic."

Sonia shook her head. "No, everyone's okay…ish."

"Good," said Sonic. "Tails and co will probably have finished by now, so come with me." They walked through the remains of the cell out into the corridor, Sonic picking up Buttercup as he passed; the green puff was still knocked out. He pulled her all the way to Bubbles' resting place, where he put her down, and started shaking Bubbles.

"Wakey wakey!" he bellowed. Bubbles stirred.

"What?" she said as she returned to reality. Sonic looked down on her, very unimpressed.

"Where did you get that Chaos Emerald from?" he asked. Bubbles blinked.

"I… err, I found it."

"Had Blossom told you about Chaos Energy?"

"No."

Sonic laughed. "I'm no the only one who's a bad liar," he said, chuckling as he did, before his expression suddenly went very hard. "But don't play games with me. What you did was extremely stupid."

"Hey," said Bubbles aggressively, "I was the only one who even hurt that Kryptonite – what happened to him?"

"Don't change the subject!" said Sonic, which surprised Sonia since Sonic usually delighted in telling people about his achievements. "That Emerald could have destroyed you! Chaos energy dose crazy things to people, and you were lucky that emerald got destroyed."

"You don't need to lecture me, I'm not five," Bubbles sulked.

"Doesn't stop you from acting like it," Sonic replied. "Now listen up. Your husband, sister and brother-in-law have taken some heavy hits, unlike you who just overloaded when the emerald got smashed, so I need you to teleport them back to earth. Take Sonia too."

"Where are you going," asked Sonia fearfully. Sonic paused, and looked away from the two of them slightly.

"I'm going to try and find Blossom, or at least her kids," he said.

"YOU CAN'T!" Sonia wailed petrified, "THAT PRINCE WILL SLAUGHTER YOU IF HE WAS ABLE TO KILL BLOSSOM!"

"Blossom's dead?" said Bubbles, her voice going squeakier then normal. Sonic didn't reply to that.

"I'll see you on earth," was all he said, before shooting off down the corridor.

* * *

"When you said the 'B' plan," said Knuckles as he and Tails bobbed around in Shadow's wake, "I thought you meant we were going to fight them, not just burst through them and run for other lives!" 

"Really?" said Tails. "I thought that was the only sensible thing to do."

"Would you two keep your mouths shut!" shouted Shadow, who was pulling them along, "it messes up all the aerodynamics!"

* * *

'Blossom' breathed steadily, as the Prince paced round her. For the changed Puff, it was all a slightly surreal experience. She felt a deep calm inside, a calm that came from the knowledge that she was, momentarily, attempt to completely obliterate her opponent in pure anger. It also came from the knowledge that she finally knew what had possessed her to kill Superman; it was whatever this was. In those moments all those years ago she'd felt the worst she'd ever felt in her entire life, but today, she felt good. 

"Quite done yet," she asked. The Prince looked up, his lip curled furiously.

"Yes, I believe that I've just decided how I'm going to make you suffer."

"Good," said Blossom calmly, and then, it the blink of an eye, she attacked. Since she was yet to launch an affective attack in the entire battle, the Prince was caught somewhat off guard by this, and ended up being smashed across the floor. He would have smashed into the wall too, but Blossom beat him there, and kicked him high into the air above. The Prince managed to steady himself, just in time to watch the yellow beam of energy hit him in the chest. As he smashed to the floor in pain, Blossom wandered slowly over to him.

"I think the boot is firmly on the other foot," she said calmly, "but I'd like a second opinion." The Prince responded by whirling his leg around just above the floor, taking Blossom's feet from under her, and landing her on her back.

He scrambled to his feet, but Blossom just flew upwards, still in a lying down position, and kicked him in the face a few times. After a couple of hits, the Prince managed to grab Blossom and hurl her towards a wall. Blossom's response was to punch the wall out the way as she hit it, rocking the entire space ship. She burst back through, and went to attack. The Prince put his MJ-damaged arm up to defend him self, but it was a useless attempt, as it was no where near strong enough to protect him. As he rocked backwards, Blossom hit him again, opening up a good distance between them. She laughed slightly, for the Prince was now bleeding.

"I can't imagine how pathetic I was before to be loosing to you!" She laughed. "But, now I'm more powerful, let's see what this Kamehameha thing can really do!" She pulled her hands back to one side, and the energy ball built up again. "I hope it makes you suffer!"

The Prince finally found his tongue. "YOU CAN'T WIN!" he said, "YOU LOST THE FIRST FIGHT, SO THIS IS ALREADY OVER! GUARDS, KILL HER!"

A door was opened, and ten Kryptonite warriors burst in. This was of great relief to Shadow, Knuckles and Tails, who were now free from pursuit, but didn't please Blossom.

"You're pathetic solders will pay for your cowardice!" she screamed, as energy flashed off her. She released the blast in the direction of a few of the soldiers, before moving so quickly to deal with the rest that to onlookers she became a mere yellow burly, scything and destroying anything in her path with limited trouble.

Even the most arrogant of Princes, could have seen that there was no way to defeat 'Blossom' in a straight fight, well not at the moment anyhow. So the Prince glanced around quickly for something that might give him an advantage.

The last soldier clattered to the ground, and Blossom landed gently, her hair flayed out behind her like a cape, her entire body glowing slightly. She looked at the Prince, who was by no means defeated.

"It's over Blossom!" he said triumphantly, displaying Edward and the still unconscious MJ, who he had picked up again. "Surrender, or I kill them and you won't be able to save both!"

Blossom just looked at him, calmly. Then she lowered her hands to one side, and started powering up an energy ball. The Prince laughed.

"Who do you think your trying to fool," he chuckled, "you wouldn't harm your own children!" he kept on laughing, but the laughter became more and more hysterical as the ball being generated in Blossom's hands grew larger and large. Eventually, he cracked.

"You can't fire that! It'll destroy the entire ship!"

"And?"

"You can't!" the Prince stuttered, "this is all that is left of our race, all the women and children… your children, you couldn't possibly want to…"

"What makes you think that I care?" asked Blossom. "I only care about destroying you, and if this is the way to do it, do be it!" The ball bulged to a massive size, light pouring out of it.

"MUM, PLEASE" Edward screamed, but it didn't even register a flicker on her face.

"YOU DON'T HAVE IT IN YOU BLOSSOM!" screamed the Prince desperately, "YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY LIVE WITH THE GUILT!"

"I'm not Blossom," the yellow puff said in reply, "I have transcended beyond her!" She fired.

Somewhere inside the massive ego that was the Prince of Krypton, heir to the throne, something clicked. He was going to die. So he might as well go out in the way all ego maniacs want to go; in style. He dropped the unconscious MJ and the terrified Edward, and charged "Blossom's" blast, hitting it dead centre, and taking the full force of the blow himself. The action saved the ship, his people, Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Knuckles, Edward and MJ, but more served to achieve his purpose. When news of his heroic sacrifice got out, he would be immortal.

To his, disappointment, he survived the initial attack. This didn't appear likely to be a permanent thing however, because the crazy yellow Puff was soon standing on his neck.

"Time to go," she said. "But don't worry, because you will go down in history, as the first of my many victims! For once I've destroyed you; I'm going to get revenge on all Blossom's old enemies, from Mojo Jojo right down to the kid who throws the newspaper in the pond every Tuesday morning. I suppose once I've done that I should destroy all Brick's old enemies too, as half my power comes from him. Either way, once I've finished entire civilisations will have been obliterated, and you will have the pride of being the first victim. Goodnight…"

"MUM WAIT," wailed Edward, grabbing the yellow Puff's hand. "Please, you're scaring me."

She looked at him with the two glowing yellow eyes, and suddenly, Blossom felt her anger evaporating, and herself returning. What hadn't worked on Sonic had worked on her; Blossom even felt Bricks powers leaving her, as she returned to normal. But unlike Sonic, she could remember everything.

"Oh Edward, I'm sorry…" she whispered, and she swept her now crying son into a hug.

* * *

Else where Brick watched, as his powers returned to the bottle. Few, he thought, that was nearly very bad. Not only had he almost lost Blossom to some insane Chaos Energy evil, he'd nearly created a disproportionate amount of work of himself and Death at the same time!

* * *

Sonic sprinted into the arena. He had had no idea quite what he was expecting, but it had defiantly not been this. 

"What happened here?" he asked. Blossom and Edward looked up from MJ, whom they'd been tending to.

"Mum went a funny yellow colour, and nearly destroyed everything," Edward said, as deadpan as he could.

"Oh," said Sonic. "I'll talk to you about that later. For now, we need to get off this ship. Shadow, Knuckles and Tails will probably be waiting for us."

"Did you succeed?" asked Blossom, as she stood up, carrying MJ.

"Course I did!" Sonic replied. "I'll give you the details when we get back to earth, but I'm sure those Kryptonite soldiers are in for a big surprise…"

* * *

"Are you sure that we were supposed to meet here?" asked the lieutenant. The captain nodded. 

"Those are our orders," he said.

"It looks like the entire army is here, I wonder why?"

"I don't know, I don't think anyone knows."

"Oh I beg to differ," said a newcomer to the conversation. The Captain swung round, only to be met by a fist coming in the other direction. As he tumbled to the ground, so did many others, because having been directed into the Grand Canyon by Tails' orders, the entire SSR (minus the Puffs and Ruffs of course) was on hand to spring an ambush. The disorganised and surprised troops were soon bidding a hasty retreat.

* * *

Okay, sorry about the length, but I had a point that I wanted to get to and I just kept going till I got there. There are two chapters left, just to tie up a few lose ends, so if you have any pacific requests about how this should be done (i.e. who do you want to lead the SSR, how should the SSR members respond to the returning Blossom – especially the DC comics characters) now is the time to let me know. Okay, please review. Thanks.

P.S. I've updated my profile page, so it now has somthing on it, for all those that are intrested in finding somthing out about me or the background to my stories. It's probably boring, but if you have any questions on anything on it, don't hesitate to contact me. Okay, thanks.


	18. Back two Square One

**Come on guys, I have currently got 20 hits on the last chapter, but no one bothered to review! I'm not a professional you know, I get no other reward for writing then the knowledge that people are enjoying it, and no one gives me a kick up the backside if I'm doing a bad job other than you. So if you like it, please take ten seconds to tell me, and if you don't, please tell me why! I want to improve as a writer, but if no one tells me how, then I can't, can I. So please take a few minutes to either tell me that you enjoyed it, or how I can improve it so you will enjoy it, or both! Thanks.**

**Oh yes, sorry to my regular reviewers (both of you), the above doesn't apply to you two. Enjoy!**

**

* * *

18. Back to Square One**

Sonic, Blossom and Edward arrived at the ship's docking bay. As they did, MJ slowly regained consciousness.

"Mum?" she asked. Blossom looked down at her.

"Hia," she smiled, "how are you feeling?"

MJ stretched. "Hungry," she said. Then she came a bit more to her senses. "Did you win?" she asked.

"Sort of," said Blossom. MJ sighed. From a small distance, Edward watched happily.

Sonic less so. "Where the hell is that pickle brained fox and Knucklehead?" he stormed, fully back to his grumpy self. "They should have been here ages…"

The ceiling above the hanger cracked, and then broke. Shadow and Tails tumbled through the hole, followed by Knuckles. The red echidna was looking as if he felt vindicated about something.

"See, I told you I knew the way to the hanger," he said triumphantly, but Shadow at least wasn't listening as he jumped to his feet.

"Sonic!" he crowed. "Don't try anything stupid, just return to our ship quietly and there won't be any trouble!"

"If I was to try anything, it wouldn't be stupid," said Sonic coldly. The two hedgehogs eyed each other suspiciously. Blossom had almost forgotten that Sonic was still supposed to be under arrest for murder. But she had a plan… of sorts.

"Before you do anything like that, you can take me and my children back home," she said to Shadow. The Black hedgehog looked at her for a moment before nodding.

"Very well," he said, "hop in."

* * *

Bubbles sat in the waiting room out side the medical wing at the SSR. Buttercup, Boomer and Butch were being treated. She was fine, and she felt bad about it. Had she really caused a problem by taking the emerald? Had see endangered her sisters and her husband? Would they survive? They should do, surely?

She looked down at her hands, feeling weak and pathetic. Sonic had really torn her off a strip. Was he right? Probably. She mentally spat at her self. How could she have been so greedy?

"_Don't worry about all that," _said a voice. Bubbles looked up.

"Err… hello?" she whispered.

"_You didn't think I'd gone did you?" _said the voice inside her head. "_Now, though, the power is inside you!"_

Bubbles felt her leg, just where Arm-OR had hit her. The wound felt smooth, and different. Suddenly, Bubbles felt it; the power was still flowing inside her. But now, it was in her, not coming form an emerald. She smiled warmly to her self, and the voice continued;

"_Why don't you show that Sonic that we're not all evil." _Bubbles nodded. She raised her hands, and pointed the palms of them to the medical bay. Waves of blue energy gently flowed off them, and through the wall into the bay. She closed her eyes, and felt the energy gently flowing around her targets. Buttercup, Butch… Boomer. She felt a strange, liberating calm spread over her body. Then she lowered her hands, and gently pushed open the door.

Gohan wondered out past her, scratching his head. "I don't understand you Puffs," he said to her. "One moment your all mangled heaps, the next you're totally fine!"

"Really?" said Bubbles, although she knew it.

"Yes," said the confused Gohan. "You can go and see them, there nothing left for me to do." He wondered off. Bubbles pushed the door open.

"BUBBLES," said Boomer delightedly, he rushed over, taking her round the waits. Bubbles smiled, and leaned in for a kiss. Once that was done, Buttercup and Butch had wondered over.

"I see you two are in good health," said Butch. Bubbles blushed.

"How are you two feeling," she asked. Butch stretched, and swung round on the spot.

"I've never felt better!" he said. Buttercup rolled her eyes.

"Never mind all that, how's Blossom?" she asked. Bubbles didn't know, but she closed her eyes, and felt around with the energy. And she felt it.

"Yes," she said. "There're going to land in the centre of Townsville, let's go meat her."

Chaos energy evil, she scoffed quietly to her self as the four of them flew off. What does Sonic know!

* * *

"Okay, I've sent the message," Tails said to Blossom. "All the SSR members should be heading for our position. And know, to execute a perfect landing."

Tails was as good as his word, for once. As they touched down, Blossom grabbed Sonic from his seat, and yanked him over to the ships door. She needed to get him onto American soil. Once there, she could think of something, and Shadow couldn't run off with him. She hoped.

A surprisingly large crowd was waiting. Blossom didn't quite know what to expect, but cheers wasn't it. Edward and MJ flittered out after them, and the two kids where quite overwhelmed. Edward tried to hide and MJ just stood there, but Blossom's old showmanship instincts from when she was a child took over, and she scoped the two of them up – much to the crowds delight. Sonic, of course, lapped it up.

Blossom briefly wondered about the reason for the fantastic reception. She supposed that it was because of the live television coverage, which had exposed her entire battle to the world. Except from the private moment with Brick, she thought.

Still, she didn't worry much about all that. The mood of the spontaneous occasion took over her. People where storming around her, pushing through the throng to shake her hand or pat her on the back. This was quickly followed by an emotional reunion with her sisters; Bubbles desperately apologising for ignoring her when she'd been in prison, Buttercup also apologised, but she was a lot more subdued about it. Elsewhere, Sonic had found Sonia. Other victorious heroes arrived form their victory in the Grand Canyon, and although they didn't approach, they seemed to be saluting her and Sonic from a distance. Blossom acknowledged them with a salute of her own. She felt great.

The mood was broken however when Shadow tapped her on the shoulder. "As much as this is good for your ego," he said calmly, "I really ort to be setting off with Sonic, so If you don't mind…"

"Actually, I do mind," said Blossom. "He's not going anywhere."

"On what grounds," asked Shadow.

"On the grounds that I'm innocent!" said Sonic, who'd now made his way over. "And I won't get a fair trial back on Mobius!" Blossom nodded. Shadow sighed.

"This is pointless," he said. "There are no new arguments; nothing has changed since the last time we took him away. So let's stop this irrational argument, and just get Sonic onto the ship and in jail, where he belongs!"

Blossom didn't have any rational arguments, she knew that. But it wasn't going to stop her from trying. Before she could think of something, someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hi honey," said Eddy. Blossom turned round.

"EDDY!" she said, throwing her hands around him. The kids had already found him; MJ was hanging onto his leg, while Edward just loitered. Eddy hugged Blossom briefly before releasing her.

"There will be plenty of time for that latter dear," he said gently, "just like there will be plenty of time to punish the kids for running off without telling me! But for now, you need to look at this." He handed her a piece of paper.

"Is this important?" asked Shadow irritable, "we are kind of busy here."

"It's very important," said Blossom, who was almost laughing. "Look at this Sonic!" She handed him the sheet. He looked at it, extremely unimpressed.

"It's my tax return from last year so what?"

"Don't you see," said Eddy delightedly, "if you've paid tax, you're a citizen!"

"So since we have no extradition treaty with Mobius," said Blossom smugly, "he's staying here." Shadow did not look impressed either, but Sonic and Sonia were almost ecstatic. Knuckles and Tails looked pretty chuffed too.

"Fine," said Shadow eventually, "We'll be off then. Come on Sonia." He wondered back to the ship, but Sonic's daughter didn't move.

"I'd like to stay here," she said calmly, "with my dad." Shadow froze, almost boiling with anger. Sonic blinked. As much as he liked annoying Shadow, he couldn't let this go entirely.

"Are you sure," he asked nervously. "All your people are on Mobius; it's not easy living on a planet with none of your kind."

"I'm sure," she said. Sonic still looked concerned. Blossom decided to let it go; this really wasn't any of her business anymore.

"Come on," she said to Eddy as she fuzzed up MJ and Edward's hair, "It's latter, let's go…"

"Ahem." Someone coughed behind her. Blossom turned round. Batman was standing behind her.

"Yes?" she asked, suddenly worried. Batman did not look happy; in fact he looked quite embarrassed.

"I'm sorry Blossom," he said, "but I'm required to put you under arrest again, for Superman's murder."

Blossom's heart plummeted through to her feet again, but he was right. He good feeling was all gone, but that was the truth. So, despite her families, and the crowds' protestations, she stuck out her hands, and let the handcuffs click around her wrists, before she was dragged off.

**

* * *

Okay, please review. Thanks.**


	19. The Nature of Things

**19. The Nature of Things**

Eddy should have arrived home in a good mood. He was feeling pretty good about managing to get Sonic off the hook, and Blossom was alive, against the odds.

But everything had sort of been ruined by Blossom going back to jail. It was stupid, he thought, of course she would have to go back. She was still a murder, that hadn't changed. But now she was a hero as well as a murder, in the eyes of the public at least. But justice is impartial.

He turned to Edward and MJ. The two kids where exhausted by there ordeal, psychically, mentally and emotionally. They didn't appear to have the energy left to cry or moan. They just looked completely defeated.

"Dinner's still on the table," Eddy said, remembering that they hadn't eaten. Edward looked at him briefly.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Sausages."

Edward nodded, and made his way to the kitchen without another word, where he preceded to slowly and silently eat the cold dinner. MJ didn't.

"I already ate," she said sadly, and she made her way to bed. She looked as devastated as Eddy felt.

* * *

The Prince of Krypton looked at his mangled arm. Most of the flesh on it had been eaten by that dammed kid. It was bandaged up now, but it still stung.

"This is disgraceful!" he said to Hump-RE.

"Yes Sire."

"I lost the fight, Arm-OR's dead, and my entire army has retreated here in a complete mess!"

"Quite awful Sire."

"How am I going to live this down? My opponents will be on us in a second."

"On you Sire," reminded Hump-RE. The Prince shot him a look.

"Okay then," he conceded. "You're paid to advise me Hump-RE, how do I get out of this mess?"

"I assume you mean without loosing your head?"

"YES."

"Very well Sire. First, we leave this planet earth immediately."

"Good," said the Prince bitterly. "Wretched planet," he continued, trying to convince himself that he'd never really wanted to invade it. "But how does that help?"

"It should avoid any awkward bits of information coming up from the planet on what actually happened. Next, we issue a statement,"

"A statement!" screamed the Prince, "saying what precisely? That I lost a fight to a girl and that the entire army was tricked by an uncoded computer message!"

"Of course not sire. What we say is that you did a deal with the authorities of earth, who agreed to trail Blossom for us, as you didn't want the taxpayers to have to pay for her legal aid. Then, we say that we have discovered a terrible infection that inhabits the planet which could have killed us all, and it was only quick action from your Generals that prevented a catastrophe, that should pacify the army. "

"But no of that's true!"

"No," said Hump-RE, "but no one can prove it isn't."

"What about the television footage of the fight!"

"Ah yes," the civil servant smiled. "I gave it to my assistant, Burn-RD. He's 'loosing' as we speak."

"Are you sure that it will work?" said the Prince doubtfully.

"Well, obviously there will be some dark mutterings from your enemies for the next few days, but I've arranged for the ship to have a major engine failure once we are a light-year from earth. And the failure will happen in such a way, that only you will be able to fix it. That'll shut them up."

The Prince sat back in his chair. "Well done, Hump-RE," he said, now a lot calmer. "Go ahead."

"Thank you Sire," said Hump-RE. He turned to leave, and stopped just at the door. "By the way sire, you might want to think about the Civil Service paid raise claim while I'm away, just as something to do…"

* * *

Blossom was sat in a prison cell again. She'd spent the night there again, hadn't slept well. She now felt bad too. Had see really been through all that just to get killed by the government? Sure, her kids and family were safe, but she could have got that from the Prince's deal.

The other thing that was concerning her was the crazy yellow from she'd taken during the fight against the Prince. She was now almost certain that she'd turned into it when she'd killed Superman. This worried her. What if it happened again, possibly during her trial? She felt such irrational anger while in that form; she'd been prepared to destroy everything. It worried her, was she really a monster. Maybe she should be executed. It would probably be safer that way.

The cell door was opened. Blossom looked up, and saw a policeman and Matt Murdock (her lawyer, remember? Cause I don't) standing there. To her surprise, the policeman had the belongings that had been confiscated from her when she was arrested.

"You're free to go," he said. Blossom stood up in shock.

"Pardon?" she asked.

"That's just it," said Murdock, "a Presidential Pardon, on the grounds of you coming up with and executing the plan to save the world."

"But I… really?"

"Yep," said Murdock. He lent of his guiding stick. "Of course, due to your desire not to get out of the trial on technicalities, I assume you will be turning it down."

Blossom looked blank for a moment. Murdock couldn't see her expression, but he didn't need to, for moments latter he lost the battle to keep a straight face.

* * *

The red Puff wondered through the corridors of the SSR, a free woman. The last few hours had been spent with her family, she'd put this moment off for as long as possible, but she had questions that needed answering. So she had to go in.

The walk was varied. Some of the Heroes she walked past completely ignored her (Wonder Woman for example) others congratulated her on the fight, while Vegeta berated her for not finishing the "smug arsehole." Still, she made it to her destination in one piece; still uncertain about what the members would think of her once the euphoria of the defeat of Krypton had died down.

She walked past her desk, and knocked on a door. The door that had _Sonic the Hedgehog, Leader _emblazoned on it.

"Enter," said a voice. Blossom did. Sonic looked up. "Ah, Blossom. Good to have you back."

Blossom looked at him, and around the room. The swagger had returned to him. He had his feet on the desk, and he'd already retrieved the filing cabinets and such from Blossom's make shift office. She supposed that meant he was back in charge. Still, she had to talk to him.

"Good meeting with the President," she asked. Sonic rocked his head from side to side.  
"Sort of," he said. He didn't elaborate so Blossom cut to the chase.

"Why did you tell him the plan was all my idea?" she asked.

"Why do you think?" Sonic asked.

"I'm not sure. Was it because one of the Mobius government criticisms of you in the war was that you always took the credit for things?"

"No, it was because I like to beat you. So I decided to rescue you from execution at the first attempt." He looked at her studiously. "Why, aren't you happy with it?"

"Of course I am!" said Blossom indignantly, "I'm delighted that I've got more time to spend with my family, and Eddy. It's just… doesn't it seem weird that one moment the public is calling for my execution and the next moment my pardoning? And even more so that the President caved in?"

"Not really," said Sonic, "According to the evening paper, his approval rating is up five points because of it."

"That's awful!" Blossom found her self saying, "hundreds of people get executed a year, yet I'm let off because it's popular?"

"It's Democracy. Justice is impartial, but the criminal justice system is not."

"I'm not that Cynical Sonic."

"Of course not," the hedgehog said, "yet. Anyway, do you have anything else to say?"

"Well, yes. I was going to tell you how I defeated the Prince."

"Gloating?"

"No." Blossom said flatly. "I lost control, just like against Superman, my hair and everything went yellow, my power and strength increased dramatically, and I threatened to destroy… well, everything. I nearly hurt my kids! I was just wondering if you knew anything about it, since you know so much about Chaos Energy."

Sonic clicked his pen against the desk, staring into middle distance for a while. Then he sat up, swing his feet to the ground. "Sit down why don't you," he said concerned. Blossom did, expecting a lecture.

"I can do that too," said Sonic. "I become an insane creature called Super Sonic if surrounded by too much Chaos energy, or if I get really angry. Its only purpose is to kill, and there is no way to control it. I suspect that is what happened to you."

"But… when Goku becomes a 'Super Saiyan,' he's not evil."

"Different power source," Sonic explained. "Chaos energy is evil, remember?"

"Like you'd ever let me forget," Blossom said. "Is there anything I can do about?"

"Not really," said Sonic, "just try to control your anger. But don't worry, if you do go insane and try to destroy the planet, I'll be here to stop you."

"Yes." Blossom tried to hide her disappointment. "So you're back in charge of the SSR?"

"Sort of," Sonic admitted. "You see, the President didn't feel he could have a murder in soul command of the organisation."

"I see."

"But I'm a murder too," reminded Sonic. Blossom raised an eyebrow. "Robotnik," the hedgehog prompted. Blossom nodded. "Anyway," Sonic continued, "the President has decided that he wants to appoint a government official to over see the running of the SSR."

"WHAT!" said Blossom, "That's impossible! No one will stand for it! We're supposed to be independent of politics! Well, we're supposed to look independent of politics."

"I know," said Sonic unhappily, "the staff is going to have a fit when they find out. But theses things take time, and are likely to be opposed in Congress, so I'm hopping to submit my own proposal."

"What are you suggesting?"

"A more balanced leadership, where the Second in command has as a lot more responsibility for running the organisation."

"Really?"

"Yep," said Sonic, "and to that end, I want you to clear out your desk." Blossom paused.

"What?" she said completely devastated.

"I'm sorry," Sonic said, looking away, "but I have no choice. You see, the builders won't be able to build a proper office for you if your desk is covered in crap."

"What?"

"Sorry, haven't you always wanted your own office, with your name on the door? Because I can always keep you in the corridor."

"You bastard," said Blossom, not knowing whether to thank him for the office or to kill him for the way he told her.

"Your welcome," said Sonic. "Now, about this proposal, I need you to construct a document for me which basically states that I'm in charge of the discipline and the major decisions, while you do all the day to day running and the minor decisions."

"No problem," said Blossom.

"But it needs to be completely unintelligible so no Congress man will have a clue what they are voting for."

"That makes it even easier," said Blossom. Sonic nodded.

"Good," he said. Blossom turned to leave. "Hang on," the Hedgehog said, "one last thing."

"Yes Sonic?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "How do you stop your daughter going out with someone you don't want them to?"

"I don't know," said Blossom, "MJ's not of dating age yet."

"Okay, okay, but how did the Professor stop you girls when you were young?"

"I don't think he ever did. Not successfully. Who is Sonia dating?"

"Crash Bandicoot," said Sonic miserably. Blossom laughed.

"Well I'll have a think about it. We're having a family celebration of my release tonight; perhaps you'd like to discuss it further there?"

Sonic paused for a moment. "I'd like that," he said.

* * *

As Blossom sat in bed that night, something was different. For the first time in years, she felt completely guilt free. Well, almost completely guilt free.

"Eddy," she asked, "do you think Brick will find someone, you know, to keep him going. Because I could be here a while, and I don't like to think of him getting lonely."

"Why?" asked Eddy from behind his book.

"Well, by rights it should be me up there. Alone." Blossom seemed distant for a moment. Eddy put "How to become a Millionaire with out alienating all your Friends" down and turned to her.

"I'm sure once he gets up and starts looking he will. He'll find a nice girl, just to take him through, and she'll understand that. She'll know that how ever much she loves her," he took Blossom's hand and looked deep into her eyes, "that he'll love you more. But despite knowing this, she will struggle, because she'll find that he is the only one for her, that he'll mean everything in the entire universe to her, that even her old loves – like, I don't know, money perhaps – will take a back seat to him. She'll never tell him this, for fear of loosing him, but she'll always be bursting to tell him."

"Are you hinting something?" asked Blossom, but Eddy continued regardless.

"And when the day you die comes along, and they are reunited, it will be the worst day of her life. But she'll carry it through with a smile and good grace, because she loves him to much to make it hard for him. And she'll leave, feeling like the most pathetic person in the entire world."

Blossom blinked. "Eddy, I…"

"Let me finish," Eddy leant back. "So once all this happens, she'll need someone for support. Someone who knows how she feels, and bang! I land Brick's hot reject!" Blossom paused and laughed. "What?" said Eddy, "your not the only one allowed a plan for when you die!"

"If you're paralleling Brick's love life with ours," said Blossom, leaning closure, "What makes you think that he's going to get someone hot?"

"That's easy," said Eddy confidently, "if you hadn't had mental problems coming out of your ears, you would have married a handsome man. But as it is you got me!"

Blossom leant on to him. "I'm not that unlucky really," she said and kissed him gently on the lips. Eddy smiled, and then turned off the light.

**The End**

* * *

Okay, well I hoped you liked that, and I'm sorry to those of you who wanted Blossom to end up leading the SSR, but I got one request for Sonic and one for Blossom, and I wanted Sonic, so I got casting vote. If more people had requested… but ah well.

Anyway, I am planning a sequel saga, which will be starting soon. If you're interested, I hope to see you there. But as it is, I'm going to leave you with a quote that I didn't quite manage to work into the story. It's one of the less famous quotes form one of the history's most quotable men, and show that although I'm a complete cynic, I do have some basic faith in the system. See you all soon. And please review. Thanks.

"_Democracy is the worst form of Government… except for all the others" – Sir Winston Churchill_


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